Pedal to the Metal
by Air Force Muffin
Summary: Jackson Crossley's life changed when he found a mysterious package. The new demigod was challenged by a dangerous heritage, a prophecy that spelled trouble, and a growing feeling of dread that he was on the wrong side of the battlefield. Thrown into the middle of the second Titan War, he was forced to choose a side or risk death. Chapter 15 is for closure.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

_**Note: Scene breaks are denoted in this story by "PTTM," which is the acronym for the title. This story starts in between The Sea of Monsters and The Titan's Curse. Please review and tell me what you think. I hope you enjoy the story. Happy reading!**_

There's a lot more to this world than an ordinary mortal might think.

My name is Jackson Crossley, and I've had a lot of experience with the non-mortal things, like gods and monsters and fights for the fate of Western Civilization. Things like that.

But there was a time in my life when I didn't know about any of the stuff that's happened to me in the last couple of years. That time is long gone. Sometimes I wish I had it back. It all started on my fourteenth birthday.

~_Begin_~

I was relaxing at the dining table in my house with my friends Trey and Adam, and eating cake. I'd been enjoying a great day. And why wouldn't I have been? Today, June 29th, was my fourteenth birthday.

I didn't know it yet, but in just a few hours, my world was about to change forever, for the better or for the worse.

As I swallowed a mouthful of cake, my friend Adam spoke up.

"You know, I think it's really awful of your dad not to visit you on your birthday," he said.

A nauseous feeling washed over me, and I looked down at my plate. I knew who Adam was talking about. My father. I had never seen him in my life, and I wasn't in any hurry to meet him, either. He'd left my mom shortly after I was born, and never returned. He just walked out and never came back. He never even sent a letter. I blinked and pushed those thoughts away. It was my birthday. I wasn't supposed to think about depressing things today.

Adam realized that he'd said the wrong thing and looked over to me, ashamed. "Sorry, man. I shouldn't have said that. Are you okay?"

I speared my fork into my slice of cake. "I'm fine," I answered quickly. "I mean, it's not like he ever visited me before."

Adam looked down, and an uncomfortable silence fell over the table. My throat tightened, and I suddenly couldn't swallow.

Trey put his hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Look, it's awful when your dad doesn't show up on your birthday, but look, you still have your mom. Don't forget her. And we're there for you, too."

"Yeah, try not to think about it. I'm really sorry that I said that," Adam added.

The tightness in my throat lessened. They were right. "You're right, guys. I really should just forget about him. He's not worth thinking about."

Trey patted me on the back. "That's the spirit."

We went back to eating our cake.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. We looked up.

"Who's that?" Trey asked, putting down his fork.

"Jackson, can you get the door?" my mom called from the kitchen.

"Sure," I said, getting up. I walked into the foyer and opened the door. There was nobody in sight.

"Hello?" I called.

My voice echoed up and down the empty street. There was no answer.

"Hello?" I repeated. Again, there was no answer.

Then I looked down and saw a package on the doorstep. Strange. I hadn't heard the mail truck. I picked it up and squinted at the printing on the side of the box, cursing my dyslexia. After several seconds, the letters formed themselves into a word that I could read. It said 'Hermes Express' on it. What? What was Hermes Express?

Suddenly, a red Chevrolet Corvette started up at the end of the street and pulled out in a screech of tires. I jumped, startled, as it drove off.

Well, whoever that was, it didn't matter now. I closed the door and went back to the dining room.

"Who was it?" my mom asked from the kitchen.

I shrugged. "I don't know. There was nobody there."

She came into the dining room, wiping her hands. "There was nothing there?"

I held up the package. "Well, this package was outside on the front steps."

She took the package from me and looked at it. "Oh, is this a FedEx package? I didn't hear the mail truck coming by."

I shook my head. "It's not from FedEx. It says 'Hermes Express' on it."

My mom looked at me with an expression of slight confusion on her face. "I don't know what you're talking about. This package is from FedEx."

Trey picked up the package. "Yeah, Jackson. This package doesn't say 'Hermes Express' anywhere on it."

My mom nodded in agreement. They stared at me, waiting for an explanation.

I stared back at them. What was going on? I could read the package as plain as day, and it said 'Hermes Express' on it. I couldn't see the words 'FedEx' anywhere on it. Something was up here. But, on the other hand, it was probably my dyslexia. That had to be it. "Sorry, guys. My dyslexia must be acting up. It says FedEx."

"Okay," Adam said. He picked up the package. "Hey, this is addressed to you. Open it."

"Sure." I took the package back, ripped off the tape, and opened the cardboard flaps. Inside, wrapped in white tissue paper, was a pair of pristine black Nike sneakers. I pulled them out of the box and held them up. "Check it out."

"Sneakers. Nice," Adam commented. "Who gave them to you?"

"I don't know." I looked in the box again and saw a slip of paper nestled in the tissue paper. "There's a note." I unfolded the paper and started to read it. It was a handwritten note.

_Dear Jackson, _the note began.

_I know that I haven't been there for any of your birthdays. I know that I haven't seen you since you were a year old. There is no way that one pair of shoes is going to make up for that._

_Wait, who was this guy?_

_This pair of shoes is simply a birthday present. Things will start to change in your life very soon._ _These shoes will be a faithful companion through your journey. If you are ever in danger, just clap the heels together._

This was starting to get creepy. This guy wasn't making any sense.

_Ask your mother tonight to tell you about me. Tell her that the protections I placed on you thirteen years ago are no longer enough to keep him safe. Tell her that you need to go to the camp. Do not tell any of your friends about this, but please, PLEASE tell your mother. She will know what to do. Sincerely, _

_Your father._

I was now completely freaked out. He'd probably been the guy who drove off in the Corvette.

I looked up from the note. "It's- the shoes- they're from my dad," I said shakily.

My mom's eyes widened.

"Well, that's no excuse for not showing up at your birthday!" Trey said angrily. "Let me see that note," he added, taking the paper out of my hands and scrutinizing it. His frown deepened. "I can't even read this. How did you read that?" he asked, thrusting the note back into my hands.

I looked over the note again. "I can read it fine."

Trey shook his head. "Well, I can't. That's the worst handwriting I've ever seen. It's just scribbles."

I examined the shoes. "The sneakers look pretty good, though." I turned to my mom. "Mom, are these shoes really from dad?"

She put the note down. "They are. I recognize his handwriting. Jackson, we need to talk about your father, later."

Before I could ask why, Trey tossed the box onto the floor. "Come on, let's forget about your dad for now. It's your birthday."

I looked at my mom, and then at my friends. I badly wanted to know more about my dad, but my friends took priority right now. "Sure."

"Great," Trey said happily, returning to his cake.

I could wait a few hours to learn about my dad. I'd already waited for him for years.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Later, after Trey and Adam had left, my mom sat me down at the kitchen table to talk about my dad.

"Jackson, I need to know what your father told you on this note," she began.

I stared at her. "I thought that you said that you could read that."

She shook her head. "I actually can't read a word of this. But you can, because your brain is hardwired to read that language."

"What?"

She sighed. "I'll explain that later. Just tell me what he said. This is important."

"Okay…" I picked up the note. "He said that things would start to change in my life very soon…"

She nodded. "Go on."

"And he said that these shoes would be a faithful companion. He said that if I was in danger, I should clap the heels of those sneakers together, but I don't know what that's supposed to do. This guy already seemed like he was crazy though, so I'm not surprised-"

"What else did he say?" my mom asked sharply.

"Um, he also said that I should ask you about him."

"I'll explain that later. What else did he say?"

I looked at the note again. "He said that the protections that he placed on me thirteen years ago aren't enough to protect me anymore."

She sucked in a breath.

"Do you actually believe this guy? He sounds like one of those spiritual kooks who predict the end of the world every other year. I mean, really- _protections?_ What protections?"

"Anything else?" she asked, ignoring my comment.

"Well, he said that I had to go to 'the camp,' whatever that means."

That must have been bad news, because she leaned back in her chair, her face paling. Abruptly, she stood up. "I'll be right back." She walked up the stairs and into her room.

What was she doing? After a second, I followed her up to her room. She'd closed the door, so I pressed my ear against the crack under the door and listened. After a couple of seconds of silence, I heard water running, and then my mom said something that made no sense at all.

"O Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, answer my call and show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood."

Nothing in that sentence made any sense at all. Iris was the name of a girl in my class, but she certainly wasn't the goddess of any rainbows. Who was Chiron, and what was Camp Half-Blood? And why was my mom talking to him? Nothing was making any sense tonight.

The sound of the water running increased, mostly drowning out her voice in the bathroom. The only thing I could hear was disjointed snippets of conversation, which made no sense at all.

"My son… soon… camp…. hurry…"

The water stopped running, and the conversation stopped. I heard footsteps coming towards the door and before I could move, my mom opened the door. "How much of that did you hear?" she asked.

"Not enough?"

She sighed. "Come back downstairs. I have a lot to explain. You won't believe much of what I say at first, but just listen. I swear that this is all true."

"Okaay…" I said, as we sat back down at the kitchen table. "So, what do you want to tell me?"

"Jackson, do you know about the Greek Gods?" she asked.

I blinked. Of all of the things that I was expecting her to tell me, this was probably the least likely. "You mean, like Zeus and Hermes and Ares and those guys?"

Thunder rumbled outside.

My mom looked up nervously at the ceiling. "Yes."

"Okay, why are you asking?"

"Because, Jackson, the Greek Gods… They're all real."

I stared at her. "What?"

She looked up at the ceiling again. "The Greek Gods are real. They control most of the forces behind our lives."

I looked at her, and she matched my gaze. "You know, it's really cruel to play a joke on someone on their birthday. I'm not going to fall for it. It's funny, though. What, is Medusa going to jump out at me and say 'Boo!'?"

She looked at me with a deathly serious gaze. "Be careful what you say. Names have power."

"What? Seriously, you're taking things too far. I'm not falling for it. The joke's over. Very funny. Ha-ha." I was also kind of annoyed that she pretended to send a present from my real dad in the mail just for an elaborate joke.

She kept that same deathly serious look on her face. My grin slowly faded. "You are joking, right?"

Her face didn't budge.

"You…You aren't joking? But then that means-"

She nodded.

"No. There's no way. That's just not possible. You're joking."

She shook her head.

I stood up. "You have to be joking. That's just not possible. The Greek Gods were an explanation for things before real science came along. They're made up. They're _myths_." I shook my head. "They don't exist. This isn't funny anymore."

My mom spoke in a quiet, even voice. "Jackson. I'm not joking."

Her tone gave me pause. I considered that, for just a second, that she was telling the truth. She was my own mother. She wouldn't lie to me.

"Let's just pretend for a minute that you aren't joking," I decided, sitting back down. "Okay, so the Greek Gods are real. But why are you telling me this? And what does this have to do with my dad?" I questioned. As she opened her mouth to answer, I took a sip of my lemonade.

Bad idea.

"Jackson, your father is a Greek God," she said bluntly.

I spewed a mist of lemonade all over the kitchen table. My mom barely noticed.

"_What?!_" I gasped.

"You heard me."

"Wait. So if I'm the child of a god, then… what-"

"I'm your real mother," she explained. "I don't know which god your father was. He told me that he was a god, but he didn't tell me which one."

"So… You're saying that I am the child of you and an immortal god, which makes me what?"

"A demigod."

"What's that?"

"Half-god, half-human."

I sat back. This was too much to take in. I was the child of a god. A freaking _god_. And I had _his_ DNA embedded in my body. I was part _god_. Part freaking _god_. Then something occurred to me.

"But how come the rest of the world doesn't know that the Greek Gods exist?" I asked.

"Because of the Mist," she answered.

"What's that?"

"The Mist is a magical veil that shields the world of Greek Gods from the eyes of mortals. Anyone linked to the Greek Gods can see through it."

I nodded. "I guess that makes sense. So I'm part god. Why are you telling me this now?"

Her expression changed to something that I couldn't quite place- was it grief? "I was hoping that I could keep you away from the Greek Gods."

"Why?"

"There are other things out there besides the gods. There are monsters."

I stiffened. "Monsters?"

"Monsters. Things like hellhounds, Gorgons, and dragons. They're all real. And they spend their entire lives hunting demigods."

"Really?" Reflexively, I looked over my shoulder, half-expecting Medusa to be there or something. Thankfully, she wasn't.

"But your father put protections on you that would keep you safe until today, your fourteenth birthday. But now they aren't strong enough to hide you. That means that you have to go to Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp what?"

"Camp Half-Blood. It's one of the only truly safe places on earth for demigods. It's in Long Island, New York."

"And you want me to go there?" I asked.

"Yes. You really don't have much of a choice. You need to go there to be educated about the world of the Greek gods, and learn to defend yourself against deadly monsters, and learn how to use whatever powers you may have."

"Hold on," I said, putting up my hands. "_Powers_?!"

"Well, depending on who the god is, demigods have special powers over whatever domain their parent controls. For example, a child of Mars- I mean, Ares, the war god, would have especially good fighting skills. A child of Zeus would have the power to control the weather, lightning, and the winds."

"That is- that is absolutely unbelievable. So you're telling me that I might have supernatural powers, and I have to go to a special camp to learn to use them."

She nodded. "Exactly."

I leaned back in my chair. "Wow. _Wow._ I really have to go to there? I have no choice?"

"No choice. I know the dangers that demigods face, and it's vital that you learn about what you are and how to defend yourself from the monsters out there."

"Okay. I guess that's cool. So, when do I go there? This weekend?"

"Actually, tonight."

"TONIGHT?! Are you serious?!"

"Yes, tonight. There's a pickup team coming from Camp Half-Blood to bring you to camp safely."

"And you're okay with all of this?" I demanded.

My mom looked at me with sorrow in her eyes. "I'm not okay with it, Jackson. I don't want you to have to go through this. But I've seen what demigods have to go up against. Going to Camp Half-Blood is for your own safety. Otherwise, you'll probably get killed."

"You're completely serious about all of this?"

"I'm as serious as I can be, Jackson."

She had to be telling the truth. "Okay. Now what?"

"I guess you wait to get picked up. Why don't you go and pack some clothes?"

"Sure." I started up the stairs to my room, but then something occurred to me, and I stopped. "Wait. What about Trey and Adam? I can't just leave in the middle of the night. They'll want to know what happened."

"I'll call their parents in the morning and explain that you're going to a summer camp. They probably won't be suspicious."

I was pretty sure that their parents wouldn't ask any questions, but I was more worried about Trey and Adam's curiosity. Oh, well. It wasn't like I could do anything now.

Upstairs in my room, I sat down on my bed and tried to fully process what I had just found out. If she was telling the truth, then I was the child of an immortal being. If she was telling the truth, then every single thing that I had ever read about Greek mythology was real. I just couldn't believe it. I would be entering an entirely new world, full of mysterious things that I previously thought impossible. I had special powers that I could learn to use. I wasn't just an ordinary mortal. It was like a dream come true.

Could I deal with this? I sat there for a few more minutes, contemplating the ramifications in my world that this news was having. It was just too much to take in. I needed some time to process it.

After a while, I got up and started packing. After pulling my backpack out of my closet, I started throwing things in it. I definitely needed a couple changes of clothes and my toothbrush. It wouldn't be a bad idea to bring some cash. I took my Red Sox cap off its hanger in the closet and put it in my bag as well. I zipped up my backpack and turned to go back downstairs, but then I saw the pair of black Nike sneakers from my dad lying on my bed.

_If you are in danger,_ _clap the heels together,_ he had said.

I looked down at my perfectly good pair of used white sneakers under my bed.

Oh, what the heck.

I picked up the black sneakers. Even if they didn't do anything special, they were still nice shoes.

I zipped up my backpack and left my room. I came down the stairs and stopped. There were three unfamiliar teenagers at the table: two boys and a girl.

My mom looked up at me. "Jackson, this is the team they sent from camp."

I nodded. "Okay. Cool. Hi." They sent kids?

The kid on the left side held out his hand. "I'm Jake Mason. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Jackson Crossley." I shook his hand, and looked at the boy and the girl. "What about you guys?"

"I'm Percy Jackson," the other boy said.

I looked at the girl. "And you?"

"Annabeth Chase," she answered.

"Right. Nice to meet you guys." After a pause, I added, "Should we get going?"

"You're right. We should get moving," Annabeth said. Percy and Jake nodded in agreement, and the four of us and my mom walked to the door. As we stepped outside, I turned to face my mom.

"Well, mom, I guess I should say goodbye."

She smiled and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you at the end of the summer… hopefully."

How cheerful.

"Tell Trey and Adam that I said goodbye to them as well."

"I will." She turned, and I saw a small tear in her eye as she closed the door. I turned and faced the three other demigods. "Well, now what?"

Percy pointed across the street. "There's our ride."

I followed his finger, and when I saw them, my jaw went south. "Uh- uh- Are those actual-uh- _Pegasus?_"

"Yup," Percy said.

On the other side of the street were two honest-to-goodness winged, majestic, pegasus. One of them was pitch-black and the other was chestnut brown. They were both shifting their legs and gently flapping their wings. They were real. Every single doubt that I had had until now were shattered. It was all real. The Greek Gods were real. I was the son of one of them. I sank to the ground.

"You okay?" Percy asked with concern.

I swallowed. "It's just… a lot to take in. I didn't fully believe it, until now. I just… Wow. It's real?"

They all nodded.

"And I'm- _I'm_ the child of one of them?"

They nodded again. I slowly stood up again. "Wow. _Wow._ I can't wait to see what else you guys have to surprise me with."

We crossed the street to the pegasus, and I walked up to the chestnut one and laid my hand on it. It was real. It was solid. It had wings. It was real.

Jake interrupted my daydream. "Jackson, we got to get moving. Who knows what could find us out here?" He climbed onto the pegasus that I was admiring. Percy and Annabeth were getting on the other pegasus. "Hop on," Jake said.

I started to sling my leg over Jake's pegasus, when I heard a low growl that made me freeze. "Um… Did you guys hear that?"

Percy must have heard it, because he had a sword in his hands and was scanning the darkened street. The growl came again, but louder. Annabeth unsheathed a dagger from her belt, and Jake pulled a sword out as well. The three of them stared out at the blackness. Suddenly, a black dog the size of a rhinoceros prowled out of the shadows towards us.

"A hellhound! Jake, Jackson, get in the air NOW!" Annabeth yelled.

I hurriedly started trying to climb on the pegasus, but he had other ideas. He took off before I could get a solid foothold, and I fell to the ground as the pegasus flew away. Normally, I would have been transfixed by the pegasus flying into the sky, but I was distracted by something else.

Behind me, I heard a very loud growl. I slowly turned around and found myself face-to-face with an impressive set of razor-sharp teeth protruding from a snout that was illuminated by two glowing red eyes.

"Nice doggie," I whispered, scooting backwards. The dog took another step forward and roared, spraying my face with flecks of spit. I barely took notice of how disgusting that was as I tried to avoid becoming an appetizer for this thing. Suddenly, the pitch-black pegasus flew out of nowhere and rammed into the side of the dog, knocking it over and giving me enough time to scramble to my feet and run towards Percy and Annabeth.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked as I approached.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I gasped as I came to a stop. "I'm just a little shaken up because, you know, I almost became a freaking giant doggie treat!"

Before Percy could answer, the pegasus screamed from behind us.

Percy's expression turned horrified. "Blackjack!"

I turned and saw the pegasus lying on its side. The hellhound was standing over it, but it wasn't interested in the pegasus. It turned to look at us with glowing eyes, and slowly backed up, pawing its feet on the ground.

"It's going to charge us," Annabeth whispered.

I stared at the hellhound. If that was the sort of monsters that were out there, then the reasons for going to Camp Half-Blood were suddenly crystal-clear.

Percy, and Annabeth, and I were on one end of the street. The hellhound and Blackjack were on the other end of the street, a quarter of a mile away. Jake was still up in the air, trying to calm the panicked pegasus.

I looked down at my shoes. My dad's words in the letter came back to me.

"_If you are ever in danger, just clap the heels together."_

Well, the situation I was in probably qualified as danger. "Um, maybe you guys should back up," I said to Percy and Annabeth.

Annabeth looked at me. "What-" she started to say, but before she could finish, I clapped the heels of the black sneakers together before I could talk myself out of the stupidity of it.

Then, to my complete and utter astonishment, something happened. The shoes exploded outwards in a swirling mass of black, and suddenly, I was sitting in the driver's seat of a _car__ that had come out of literally nowhere__._ I also had no shoes on, which meant that-

"Oh my god, those shoes can turn into a freaking _car_," I whispered, looking around. Percy and Annabeth had been thrown back by the expanding car, and I could see the looks of massive confusion on their faces. Suddenly, a low, growling voice echoed through the car.

_Hello,_ it said.

I looked around. "What- Who's there?"

_Your father sent me to help you arrive at camp safely. I have sworn to serve you faithfully._

"But where are you? Who are you?"

_I am the car itself._

_"Wait, so _you're a talking car?"

_Not exactly, but there are more important things right now. That hellhound is going to kill you unless you kill it first._ _I would suggest turning on the car and running it over._

I stared at the steering wheel. "But I can't drive!"

_Just try it. It will be like second nature to you._

Well, why not? It wasn't like I had anything to lose. I was pretty good at go-karting anyway. Might as well try. I turned the key, which was already in the ignition, and started the car. The engine awoke with a smooth purr as I put the engine into drive and put my hands on the steering wheel. "Wish me luck, then."

_I am__, the car replied._

I took a deep breath, and floored the gas pedal. The engine roared, and the car leapt forward, eating pavement down the avenue. The hellhound was growing bigger every second. I was going to hit it dead on, which would hopefully kill it. My eyes flicked to the speedometer. I was doing nearly fifty miles an hour. Yup, that hellhound was going down. As the car approached the hellhound, time seemed to slow down.

"Brace for impact," I muttered. There was no response. Exactly one second later, I slammed into the hellhound. Or, rather, through it. It burst into a cloud of golden dust on impact, causing almost no loss in momentum. The end of the road was coming up awfully fast.

The car's calm, yet forceful voice broke through.

_Brake!_

Without thinking, I slammed on the brakes and spun the steering wheel to the right. With an enormous sound of screeching tires, the car spun, slowly sliding to a halt, until we came to a stop at the end of the street. I sank down in my seat.

"Wow."

_That was rather impressive, young hero. I believe that you have some friends that you need to pick up__, the car said._

I looked down the street. Percy, Annabeth, and Jake, along with the two pegasuses, were staring at my car, flabbergasted.

"Wow. Thanks."

_Anytime. Care to tell me your name? _

I started back down the street towards the others. "I'm Jackson. Jackson Crossley."

**A/N: What do you think? Please review, and feel free to ask questions or offer advice. Thank you. Air Force Muffin out.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**Hey, tips and feedback on the first chapter are appreciated. Enjoy the chapter. **

As I brought the car to a stop at the end of the avenue and got out, I randomly noted that it was a Dodge Charger. Jake, Annabeth, and Percy still looked stunned from the appearance of the car.

"Jackson… where did that car come from?" Annabeth asked.

"I… I actually don't know."

"Wait. So this car isn't yours?" Percy asked.

"No, I mean, I think it's mine." I explained to them how I had gotten the shoes.

"A pair of shoes that can turn into a car… Can it turn back into a pair of shoes?" Jake mused, after I explained how I got the car.

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly. "Let me try something." I clapped my heels, and to my slight surprise, the car shrank back into a pair of sneakers on my feet.

All three of them looked stunned again. Annabeth recovered from her shock first. "Well, we have a problem. Blackjack's injured. He can fly, but he can't take anyone with him, and Porkpie can't fit four people on his back. We're stuck here unless-" She smacked her forehead. "Of course! Can you turn your shoes back into the car?"

"Yeah, I think," I replied. "Just step back." I clapped the heels of the sneakers together, and once again, the car swirled out around me. I turned it on and rolled down the window. "Okay. Get in, I guess."

As Annabeth and Jake got into the car, Percy turned to the pegasi and said something to them. Incredibly, the pegasus neighed in reply, and Percy nodded like he was having a serious conversation with it. Apparently he was, because the pegasus nodded in reply, and after a pause, flew off into the night with the other one. Percy started to get in, but then he stopped. "Um," he said, "Can you _drive_?"

I shrugged, still staring at him. "Sort of. I've been driving go-karts for years. It can't be that hard. Can any of you guys drive?"

Jake shrugged and said, "Maybe, but probably not," as Percy and Annabeth shook their heads.

"Okay, then. That's settled. Let's get moving." I looked in the backseat at Percy and Annabeth. "You guys buckled up?"

They nodded.

"Right, then," I said. "Here we go." I started up the car and pressed down on the gas pedal, and the car jolted forwards.

"Whoa!" I yelped, slamming on the brakes. The car jerked to a halt. Percy was knocked forward into Jake's front seat with an "Ow!"

"Sorry!" I apologized. Before starting the car again, I looked over at Jake. "So where is Camp Half-Blood, anyway?" I asked.

"Long Island, New York," he answered.

"No, I mean, what's the address? How do I get there?"

"I actually don't know the exact address. I don't even know if it has a real address."

I shrugged. "Well, I'm guessing we should go south, and then, uh- any ideas?" I directed my last question to the car.

_Try the GPS,__ the car answered._

"Okay. Of course."

Jake looked at me strangely. "Who are you talking to?"

"The car."

"What?"

"I was talking to the car. The car can talk to me. I don't know how I'm doing it, but I can understand what the car is saying."

Instead of looking at me like I was crazy, Jake spoke thoughtfully. "You know, that's actually possible. I mean, that kind of sounds like you could be a son of Hephaestus."

"Hephaestus? Isn't he the god of machines and stuff like that?" I asked.

"Yeah. That could explain the shoes and your ability to talk to cars," he said.

"Hephaestus sounds cool, I guess," I remarked, as I turned the GPS on. I looked at Percy and Annabeth in the back. "Do you guys know the address of this-"

"Destination preset. Beginning route to Camp Half-Blood," the GPS droned in a computerized voice.

"Wait, what?" I stared at the GPS.

"How does the car know where we're going?" Percy asked.

"You said that this car was from your father, right?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah…"

"He probably did this. Whoever he is, we owe him," she decided.

"Makes sense, I guess." I tapped the gas pedal, and the car slowly moved forward. We were on our way.

After a few miles and some directions from the GPS, I coasted the car up a highway onramp and was greeted by the sight of a deserted highway. I was becoming comfortable with driving quickly. As we entered the highway, I warily pushed down on the gas pedal, and we sped up to forty miles an hour. We drove in silence for several minutes until Jake spoke up.

"You seem to be taking this whole Greek God stuff well," he remarked.

"Yeah, my mom kind of filled me in on the basics." He didn't respond, and the car lapsed into silence again. After several more minutes, I looked over at Jake. "So you guys are demigods, right?"

He nodded.

"So who are your godly parents?"

"Hephaestus," Jake said.

"Athena," Annabeth said.

"Poseidon," Percy said.

"Oh. Okay. Cool." I had a vague idea about what each of those gods were. "Poseidon's the sea god, right?"

"Yeah," Jake answered.

"So does that mean that Percy can, like, I don't know, breathe underwater?"

"Yes," Percy said from the backseat.

"Wait, really?"

"I can also control the water and heal myself with it," he continued.

I shook my head in disbelief. "Man, that sounds amazing. Is there any chance I'm a son of Poseidon?"

"Probably not," Percy said.

"Why?"

Annabeth jumped in. "After World War Two, the Big Three- that's Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades- made an oath not to have any more demigod children, because they were interfering too much in the lives of mortals. World War Two was basically a fight with children of Zeus and Poseidon on one side and children of Hades on the other. Poseidon broke his oath when he had Percy, as you can see," she explained.

"Okay. So do you guys know which god my dad is, then?" I asked.

Jake shrugged. "Maybe Hephaestus. Because you can talk to the car. But to be honest, I have no idea."

"No idea? None at all?"

"Well, _I_ don't know, but…" He turned to the backseat. "What about you, Annabeth? You have any ideas on who Jackson's godly parent could be?"

"Not really," Annabeth responded. "Maybe Hephaestus, because he can talk to the car." Jake nodded, but then she continued, "There's also Ve-"

Jake cut her off. "No, I'm pretty sure it isn't him. Otherwise, Jackson wouldn't be here right now."

"Who?" I asked.

"It's nobody, really," Jake said. "There's no way that he can be your dad, at least. He got the Olympians pretty mad at him, and he's kind of a fugitive. If you were his son, you would probably be dead by now."

"Who?" I pressed.

Jake didn't budge. "It's really not possible that he's your father."

"What Jake means to say," Annabeth began, "is that there's a minor god who has powers that are like what we've seen from you so far- you know, the ability to talk to cars- except that you can't be his son."

"Why?" I asked.

"That minor god got into a huge argument with the Olympian council about twenty years ago. He lost the argument, and was left in disgrace. He hasn't been seen since, but I am positive that he wouldn't have had a child, mainly because angering the Olympians means that your children are doomed. If you were his son, then you would have probably been tracked down and killed by the gods a long time ago," Annabeth explained.

"What's this guy's name?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you the name. His name is Vehiclos."

"Vehiclos?"

"Vehiclos. The Greek god of transportation," he clarified.

Thunder rumbled, even though it was a clear, starry night. A shiver ran through my body.

"Anyway," Jake said, "We could be completely wrong about who your parent is. I mean, the whole camp thought that Percy was going to be a son of Hermes or something, and then it turned out that he was a son of Poseidon. You could end up being a son of Aphrodite or something, for all we know."

"Okay." I changed the subject with a question that had been on the back of my mind for a while. "I see. So why wasn't there any adults?"

"What?"

"Why didn't the camp send adults instead of kids? I mean, no offense, but don't they have a more mature welcoming party?"

"There aren't too many adult demigods out there. Most of them, well, they don't make it to adulthood. And the demigods who do make it to adulthood scatter around the country. They don't stick around at camp," Annabeth explained.

"Oh. So this is a camp for kids?"

"Yeah, pretty much," she said.

After that, we didn't really say anything, and the only sound was coming from Percy, who had fallen asleep and was snoring.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Jake yawned and looked around. "Where are we?"

I checked a passing road sign. "Connecticut, I think."

As I said that, we passed by a sign on the side of the highway that read "SPEED LIMIT 55."

I frowned. "Wasn't the speed limit seventy?"

Jake looked behind us. "I think we have a bigger problem right now."

Suddenly, a bank of flashing blue lights appeared in my rearview mirror.

Damn it.

A Connecticut state trooper car had pulled out behind us, sirens wailing. I gently applied the brakes and changed to the far right lane. "What do we do now?" I asked.

"Pull over," Annabeth said from the back. "Jake, can you manipulate the Mist a little?"

"I don't know. I haven't practiced in a while," Jake said.

I pulled onto the right shoulder and came to a stop. Behind us, the state trooper pulled over and shut off his siren. He kept the lights on, but didn't move out of the car.

After several tense minutes, the officer opened the door and started slowly walking over to our car with his hand on the holster of his gun.

"Guys, I got this… I think," I said, taking a deep breath. "No sudden movements or anything. Don't act suspicious."

"You better know what you're doing," Jake said.

Annabeth looked at me like I was crazy. Before she could try to argue, the officer came up alongside the vehicle and leaned in the window. "Can I see your license and registr-" He stopped short and peered into the car, astonished. "You guys are all kids! What the hell? How many people are in this car?" He squinted into the backseat. "Never mind. Does anyone here have a driver's license?"

"Er, well… not really," I said. So much for trying to bluff my way out.

The officer sighed. "Is this car stolen?"

"No," I answered truthfully.

The officer looked at me disbelievingly. "I'm going to have a hard time believing that, kid. What's your name?"

"Jackson Crossley."

The officer looked taken aback. "Uh… what's your mother's first name?"

"Um, Marlene."

He leaned down in the window and stared at me in the eyes. "Kid, the license plates on this car came back as registered to a Marlene Crossley. It hasn't been reported stolen. Do you mean to tell me that this car is your mother's?" His expression softened with real concern. "Kid, are you running away?"

I decided to play the troubled runaway angle. I tried to look downcast. "Sort of," I mumbled, looking down.

"Kid, look at me," the officer said. I looked up at his face. "Why are you running away? And why are these kids with you?" the officer asked.

I had to think of an excuse fast. "We... were, uh-"

"I hated my family," Annabeth said evenly, joining the act. "They didn't want me. So I left."

The officer looked over at Annabeth. "Is that really true, Miss?"

Annabeth's face was tightly drawn in and expressionless. She said nothing. Wow, she was a really good actor.

"Fine," the officer said. He looked at Jake. "Care to give me your name, mister?"

Jake, who had caught on to what was going on, shook his head and looked away.

The officer looked at Percy. "What about you- Oh, never mind," he chuckled. I looked back at Percy to see what was so funny. Incredibly, he was asleep. I shook my head in disbelief.

The officer stood up. "Well, I really have no choice but to bring you guys in to the station for the night. How about I call a tow truck for this car, and then you can ride in the car on the way back? It might be a little cramped, but we can fit. Sound good?"

"Uh… sure?"

"Perfect." The officer started back to his car.

I looked at Annabeth and Jake. "Any ideas?" I whispered. "My plan just went south."

"I'm going to have to try to manipulate the Mist, like Annabeth said," Jake whispered. "It's tough, but I might be able to do it."

"I'll help," Annabeth said. "I can use it, sort of."

"Sure," Jake said. "I need all the help I can get with this."

"Okay, good. We need to get the officer back over here. We need a distraction," Annabeth continued.

A rough plan started to form in my head. It would be risky, but it just might work. I looked behind me. The officer was almost to the patrol car.

"Okay, guys, I'm going to try this. Jake, when I get out of the car, get out as well. Annabeth, I'm going to try to stage a fight between me and Jake. You have to get out and pretend to try to break it up. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Here we go. Follow my lead."

I put the car into reverse and slammed on the gas. The car lurched backwards and crashed into the bumper of the police car with a _crunch_. I opened the door and jumped out. "Jake, what the hell was that?! Why'd you put the car in reverse?" I yelled.

Jake, getting the idea, jumped out and walked over to my side of the car. "What do you mean, _I_ put the car in reverse? You're the one who hit the gas!"

"Liar!" I bellowed. "You made me hit the gas!"

"Oh yeah?" Jake snapped.

"Yeah!" I shot back.

Annabeth climbed out of the car. "Stop it!" she shrieked, playing along and pretending to struggle with us.

Jake and I were nose to nose, and the officer, who had been about to pick up his radio, had dropped it and was hurrying over. Perfect.

"Boys! Stop it!" he yelled, trying to get between us.

Jake stepped back and snapped his fingers. The officer stopped dead and his eyes started to glaze over. His entire body was quivering. "Annabeth, a little help?" Jake muttered.

Annabeth snapped her fingers, and the officer fell completely still.

"You are going to forget about us completely," Jake said firmly.

The officer nodded jerkily. "Forget," he mumbled.

"You are going to radio into the dispatch and tell them that everything is normal. When you're done with the radio, you will go back to your car and drive back to your police station. You will forget about us."

"Yeah," the police officer said. "Forget."

Jake snapped his fingers. The officer unfroze and looked at us with a look of confusion. "Who are you kids?" Then he stopped. "Hold on, I have to radio in something." He went over to his car, leaned down into the radio and robotically told the dispatcher what Jake had told him to say. Afterward, he climbed into his car.

"So long, kids," he said dazedly with a wave, before driving away, leaving us on the shoulder of the highway.

I looked at Jake and Annabeth in awe. "How did you do that?"

"There's this thing called the Mist-" Annabeth began.

"I know what the Mist is, but how'd you hypnotize the police officer?"

"Demigods can manipulate the Mist to fool mortals. It's really useful," Annabeth said.

"That is so cool," I said admiringly. I turned to Jake. "So, uh, thanks for catching onto the plan."

"Most of the credit should go to you," Jake said. "You were the one who had that brilliant plan in the first place."

"I don't know how I did that," I admitted. "I'm surprised that I could even think of something that fast."

"There's your demigod instincts at work," Jake said. "That's when they come in handy."

"Cool."

"Should we get going?" Annabeth suggested.

"Yeah, we should get moving again," Jake agreed.

The three of us got back into the car. For the rest of the car ride, I drove at sixty miles an hour no matter what the speed limit was.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

The rest of the trip was smooth sailing, at least until near the end, when I got my second close-up with a real, live, bloodthirsty monster.

After passing through New York, traffic had thinned out. As the GPS guided us deeper into Long Island, we were the only car on the road.

"We're almost at Camp Half-Blood. Is there going to be, like, a welcoming party or something?" I asked Jake.

"Probably not. It's almost midnight," he replied.

I looked down at the speedometer for a split second, and when I looked up again, there was a massive bear-like creature standing on the middle of the road, directly in our path.

"WHOA!" I screamed, slamming on the brakes and pulling the wheel to the right as hard as I could. The car drifted to the right, pointed perpendicular to the road, and we came to a stop a couple of feet from the thing in the road. It stood there briefly, sniffing the air, before padding towards us with a low, deep growl.

"Don't stop! DRIVE!" Annabeth ordered.

Sound advice. Without hesitation, I slammed on the gas pedal, and we careened off the road and away from the bear thing. It bounded after us as we fishtailed through the grass, throwing up sprays of dirt behind us as the car thumped through some sort of farm, ruining whatever was growing there. The GPS was going haywire, blinking and beeping and telling me to return to the road immediately.

The uneven ground shook Percy awake, and he immediately slammed his head into the ceiling in surprise.

"What's going on?!" he yelped.

"We need to get back on the road. That thing's gaining on us," Annabeth said.

I threw the wheel to the left. The back end of the car slid out, and the car turned around completely, facing the thing that was pursuing us.

"Maybe it'll work again," I muttered, thinking back to the incident with the hellhound at the start of our journey. I accelerated into a crash course with the charging monster. Whatever that was, it was going to be going to kingdom come in a few seconds.

Then, incredibly, as the gap closed and I braced for impact, the thing jumped _over_ us and landed neatly behind the car. The good thing: that gave us a clear shot at the road. The bad thing: I didn't know if we'd make it back to the road. The creature was closing in on us again with blazing speed.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit me. I slammed on the brakes and heard a resounding _thunk_ as the monster collided with the back of the car, followed by an angry roar of pain as I screeched away from it.

"I think you just made it mad," Percy said nervously.

"Well, it can't catch us now," I said, pulling back onto the road. "I think we're safe."

With a spine-tingling roar, the creature pounded into hot pursuit behind us.

"Scratch that," I muttered, flooring the gas pedal.

"What is that thing?" Jake gasped, clutching the door of the car for all it was worth.

Even as the speedometer climbed past speeds of over seventy miles per hour, we were barely keeping ahead of the creature.

The GPS blinked. "In one mile, you have arrived at your destination."

I squinted into the distance. "Where's the entrance to the camp?"

"There's a pine tree on the top of the hill up ahead. Once you get past that, you're in the camp boundaries. That thing won't be able to get through the boundaries," Annabeth answered.

I gripped the steering wheel. "All right, then. All I have to do is outrun that thing for a minute. How hard can it be?"

Those were famous last words. An enormous thump from directly above the car, as if…

"That thing's on the roof!" Jake screamed.

Damn it. I slammed on the brakes, and the car screeched to a halt. The creature kept going, tumbling off the roof and down the front of the car, cracking the windshield and denting the hood on the way down. It rolled twice before landing on its feet, facing us. As it stood up, I got a good look at it for the first time. It resembled a massive dog. It was covered in brown fur that shifted and glowed slightly in the moonlight as its muscles rippled under its skin. Its snout-like face had two glowing red eyes and a mouth full of rows of gleaming, razor-sharp teeth. As I watched, it pawed the ground and snorted at us. A hellhound.

"Does every one of these hellhounds in the tri-state area want a piece of me tonight?" I muttered.

"They travel in groups," Annabeth whispered. "Where there's one, there's more."

Suddenly, the hellhound threw back its head, letting out a thunderous growl that echoed through the hills of Long Island, snapping us out of our fascinated daze.

"GO!" Jake yelled.

I threw the car into reverse, and we lurched backwards and back down the road. The hellhound roared again and jumped after us. As the car gained speed, I pulled the steering wheel to the right, hard, and we spun around in a U-turn. I threw the car out of reverse and stomped on the gas pedal, pulling away from the hellhound.

"We're going the wrong way!" Percy warned.

"I know! I have eyes!" I snapped, hitting the brakes and pulling the wheel to the left. The car spun around again, now pointed the right way as the hellhound bore down on us. I put the pedal to the metal, and the car jumped forward. Once again, we were on a collision course. I leaned backwards, bracing myself, as we closed in on the hellhound, waiting for the impact.

It never came. It jumped over us again, giving us a clear shot to Camp Half-Blood. I buried the gas pedal into the floor, and we picked up speed. As we reached the top of the next hill, I caught sight of a lone pine tree at the top of the next hill. That had to be it.

Jake sighed with relief. "We made it."

Except that we hadn't. With a burst of speed, the creature drew even with the car and rammed the side, throwing us sideways.

"Whoa!" I wrestled with the steering wheel, trying to force the car to stay on the road as the hellhound clawed at the side of the car. It smashed its head into the window, leaving a jagged crack.

"Holy Hera!" Jake yelped, scrambling sideways. He managed to climb into the backseat, leaving me alone in the front.

I managed to steer up the hill towards the pine tree. But at this rate, the hellhound was going to wreck the car before we got there. "Can you try to stab that thing with your swords or something?" I yelled.

"Percy, give me your sword now!" Annabeth commanded. I heard a window rolling down, followed by Annabeth grunting. Suddenly, the hellhound stopped ramming the car and let out an ear-piercing scream. I looked away from the road long enough to see Annabeth burying Percy's sword into the back of the hellhound as it burst into a cloud of golden dust.

Annabeth dropped back into the car as we reached the top of the hill.

"Holy Hera," Jake said weakly as we passed by the pine tree at the top of the hill. "That was… That was…"

As we trundled down the hill, I got my first good look at Camp Half-Blood. Laid out in front of us were twelve cabins in a U-shape. In the center of the U was a campfire, and a group of kids were standing around the campfire.

The GPS spoke one last time. "You have reached your destination."

I slumped down in the seat and exhaled. "Those monsters… Does stuff like that happen a lot?"

Annabeth and Jake nodded.

"Wow. I… I get why I'm here."

After that admittance, I unbuckled my seatbelt, got out of the car, and faced the campers. "Um… Hi?"

My greeting was met with silence. Behind me, Jake and Annabeth got out of the car. The Dodge looked like it'd been through a few wars. The windshield was a spiderweb of cracks, the hood was dented, and the car was covered in dirt and scratches. We must have been a sight to see coming down the hill.

The people in front of me still hadn't said anything. Then, off to my left, I noticed a centaur trotting up to us. I blinked. A centaur. A real flesh-and-blood centaur. My day couldn't get any weirder.

The centaur looked at me, then Annabeth and Jake, then the car, then back to me, and then finally, back to Annabeth. He looked at her and spoke. "Ah, you've returned. Was the quest successful?"

"Yeah, we did. We got him." Annabeth pointed at me as she said that.

The centaur looked at me. "I see. What is your name?"

"I'm Jackson Crossley. Um-"

The centaur held out a hand. "I'm Chiron, the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Crossley." As we shook hands, he looked over my shoulder at the car. "Is this your car?"

"Yeah, sort of."

Chiron raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on it. "Very well. It's late, so why don't we-" He stopped abruptly. "Where's Percy?" he asked to Annabeth and Jake.

After a pause without answering, they both looked back at the car.

As if on cue, Percy got out of the back of the car, yawning widely. "Uh… Are we back?"

When silence was the only answer, he shrugged. "I fell asleep. What did I miss?" Everyone was staring at him, myself included.

Annabeth sighed. "We'll tell you later, Percy."

Percy yawned again and scratched his neck. "Okay. Um- sorry about falling asleep. I shouldn't have done that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It's fine, Seaweed Brain. Get some sleep."

"Sure. I'm going to go to bed now, I guess. 'Night, everyone. You too, Jackson." He nodded to me and shuffled off towards a different cabin.

Chiron watched Percy exit for a moment before returning his attention to me. "Mr. Crossley, it's late, so why don't you get some sleep? We'll do the introductions tomorrow. There should be a bunk for you in Cabin Eleven."

"Yeah, sure."

Chiron looked back at my car. "What about your car?"

"I think I've got that." I clapped my feet together, and the car swirled back into the pair of sneakers on my feet. The group of campers around the campfire gasped and started murmuring. Chiron simply looked surprised.

"I have many questions," he said. "But all of them can wait until morning. Travis and Connor will take you to Cabin Eleven." He turned to face the crowd behind him. "All right, everyone off to bed! And can someone please get the Stolls?"

The crowd dispersed, but a lot of people were still giving me strange looks. I guess shoes that turn into cars and vice versa aren't common, even in the world of Greek Gods. After a minute, two guys who looked like twins came up to Chiron.

The one on the left yawned. "Malcolm told us to come out here, Chiron. What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter, Travis," Chiron said. "Jackson, this is Travis and Connor Stoll. Travis and Connor, this is Jackson Crossley. Travis and Connor are the head counselors of Cabin Eleven. They'll give you a place to sleep."

I nodded at them. "Nice to meet you."

Travis and Connor nodded back at me. The kid on the right, Connor, spoke to Chiron. "We'll take it from here."

"Good," Chiron said. "I'm off to bed. I trust that you three will be off to bed as well." He trotted off, leaving me standing with the twins.

"So… what's in Cabin Eleven?" I asked.

"Cabin Eleven is for children of Hermes, but he's also the god of travelers, so he takes in unclaimed newcomers," the twin on the left responded.

"Unclaimed?"

"Claiming is when your godly parent claims you as his or her child. When you're claimed, a symbol of your godly parent will appear over your head," Connor explained. "When you get claimed, you move to the cabin of your godly parent."

"Oh." I looked up. "Uh, dad, feel free to claim me now." Nothing happened.

Travis shrugged. "Don't take it personally. Claiming doesn't happen immediately."

At Cabin Eleven, the twins ushered me inside and flipped on a light on the wall. The inside of the cabin wasn't anything impressive. It looked like any other cabin from a summer camp. Every bunk was occupied, and there were more people laid out on sleeping bags on the floor.

"HEY!" Travis yelled.

The cabin briefly came alive in a storm of movement. After a few moments, most of the kids in the cabin were awake and looking at us. I could feel all of their eyes on me as well.

"We have a new camper," Travis continued. "Meet Jackson Crossley."

I lifted one of my hands in greeting. "Hey."

No one replied, but someone called out, "Is he claimed?"

Travis shook his head. "Unclaimed."

There was a collective groan at his words. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I stayed quiet.

Connor handed me a sleeping bag and gestured at the floor. "All the bunks are taken, but there's plenty of space on the floor, so pick any spot and make yourself comfortable."

After I laid my stuff out in a spot in the corner, Connor flicked off the lights, and the cabin plunged into darkness. I settled on the sleeping bag that was already laid out in my space and drifted off to sleep. I had no idea what the next couple of months held in store for me.

**A/N: Well? What do you think? Let me know with a review! Reviews are very much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who reads, and thank you to everyone who reviews. Air Force Muffin out.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

The next morning, I was woken up by someone shaking me. I rolled over and wrenched open a bleary eye. "What?"

"It's Travis. C'mon, Jackson. I hate to wake you up, but Chiron and Mr. D. want to talk to you."

The memories of what had happened yesterday came flying back in an instant, and I sat up immediately. "I'm coming." I stood up, stretched, and let out an enormous yawn. "Who's Mr. D?"

"He's the camp director. He doesn't really like demigods, but you have to be respectful to him. He's here from Olympus on punishment," Travis said.

"Sure," I mumbled, not really processing what he'd said.

I stepped between the sleeping campers on the floor and made my way to the bathroom. After pulling on a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and a clean pair of shorts, I was escorted by Travis to the farmhouse, where two people were sitting in deck chairs on the front porch. I saw Chiron, but I didn't recognize the other person. The one I didn't know was a bit paunchy and was wearing leopard-skin tights, a dark purple shirt, sunglasses, and, strangely enough, a ring of grapevines around his head. He was also reading a wine magazine and looked utterly bored.

Chiron looked up and smiled as Travis and I came up the steps to the front porch. "Ah, thank you, Travis. You may leave. I will take him from here."

As Travis left, I settled into a deck chair and looked at Chiron, who spoke. "Jackson, how much do you know about the Greek gods?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Some."

"Would you care to tell me what you know?"

"Sure." I told Chiron everything that I knew about the Greek Gods, including what I learned the night before. At the end of my explanation, Chiron nodded thoughtfully.

"You are much more well-informed than most campers that come through the camp. You do not need the orientation video, I think."

"Okay."

"There is only one thing you need to know right now, though."

"Yeah?"

"Are you familiar with Dionysus?"

"The wine god, right?"

Mr. D. coughed something that sounded like "_understatement!_"

"Yes, Dionysus is the god of wine, among other things. Jackson, meet Dionysus. Mr. D, meet Jackson Crossley." After an awkward pause, Chiron cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Mr. D.

Mr. D looked up from his wine magazine. "Oh, right. Yes, hello. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Jason Crossman." He went back to his reading without another word.

I didn't mention that he'd gotten my name wrong. "Wait- You're Dionysus?"

Without looking up from his magazine, he replied, "That is correct."

"You're an immortal god of wine."

"Yes."

"You're a son of Zeus."

He looked over his magazine at me, and purple fire flickered in his eyes. "Are you actually going anywhere with this, or are you going to stare at me and say obvious things like an idiot all day, child?"

"Mr. D is an alias for Dionysus," Chiron cut in quickly. "He is currently stationed on probation at Camp Half-Blood."

"Alas," Dionysus added sarcastically.

"Oh." I looked at Chiron. "Do I like, have to bow to him or something?"

Mr. D snorted. "Oh! I wish."

Chiron chuckled. "No, you do not need to bow. Just be respectful."

"Most of these kids can't even manage that," Mr. D muttered.

Chiron ignored him and changed the subject. "I have been informed of the course of last night's events, and I have some questions."

I leaned back in my chair. "Shoot."

"First of all, your shoes. Do they really turn into a car?"

"Yeah. Do you want to see?"

Chiron nodded, so I stepped of the porch and backed up until what I assumed was a safe distance from the house. Then I clapped the heels together, and sure enough, the car whirled out again, and I found myself sitting in the driver's seat. Chiron looked startled, and Mr. D. raised an eyebrow in surprise, which I would learn was his equivalent of yelling "Holy shit!"

Chiron stepped off the porch and gingerly touched the car. "How did you get this?"

I stepped out of the car. "I think it was a gift from my dad." I told Chiron the story of how I got the 'Hermes Express' package.

After hearing the story, Chiron stroked his beard thoughtfully. "That is interesting. Your father could be Hephaestus, who seems the most likely. I believe that there are several other minor gods who might fit the evidence. Your father could even be Hermes, who is the god of travelers, which I suppose includes transportation. The package was sent by Hermes Express, which supports that hypothesis. But that is all speculation."

I patted the car. "Do you mind if I hang on to this?"

Chiron nodded. "Certainly. It is yours, after all. Just please keep it in shoe form."

"Sure." I shifted the car back into shoe form and went back to the porch. "Anything else?"

"No, nothing," Chiron said. "I would give you a tour of camp now, but I have to answer a summons to Olympus. I'm already late for it, but I need to-" His gaze landed on something behind me. "Mr. Anderson! Are you free at this moment?"

I turned around and saw a kid who looked about my age, with dark olive skin and a Red Sox cap on his head, walking by the porch. He stopped at the sound of Chiron's voice and turned around.

"Sorry, what?" he asked.

"Are you free at this moment, Mr. Hill?" Chiron repeated.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"Can you do me a favor? This is Jackson Crossley, and he needs to be shown around the camp, but I have to make a visit to Olympus. Can you show him around the camp for me?"

He shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Excellent," Chiron said. He turned and entered the farmhouse without another word.

The other kid climbed up the steps. "Hey," he said, holding out his hand. "I'm Grant. Son of Hermes."

"I'm Jackson," I said, shaking his hand.

"Oh, you're that guy from last night," he said in realization.

"Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you."

Grant nodded. "Same. So, I guess I should show you the camp," he said. "Follow me." He started down the porch steps.

As we walked down towards the camp, I tried to start a conversation.

"So, uh, you a Red Sox fan?" I asked.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Definitely. Where you from?"

"Vermont. What about you?"

"Massachusetts. Near Boston."

"Oh, cool. You ever been to a Red Sox game?"

"A couple of times."

"Nice."

Our conversation trailed off as we descended into the valley that the camp was nestled in. Last night, when I had driven into the camp, I hadn't seen much of anything. But now in the day, the camp was way more impressive. Spread out in the valley was twelve cabins, and each of them looked as different as black and white. One of them had plants and vines growing all over it. Another had smokestacks coming out the roof. A third glowed like moonlight.

Grant pointed out each of the cabins as we walked by them. "We have twelve cabins, one for each Olympian god. Hera's and Artemis' cabins are honorary, because they don't have any children. Occasionally, the Hunters visit camp and stay in the Artemis cabin."

"The Hunters?"

"The Hunters of Artemis. They're a group of girls who have sworn eternal maidenhood and hunt with Artemis."

"Okay."

As we walked by the cabins, something occurred to me. "Wait. What about the kids who have minor gods for parents? Like Nike and stuff. Where's their cabin?"

Grant shook his head. "They stay in the Hermes cabin. That's why it's so crowded. Hermes is the god of travelers, so he lets anyone who doesn't have a cabin stay there."

I frowned. "That's kind of unfair. I mean, you just said that there's two cabins that aren't even being used."

Grant shrugged. "It's been like this for the entire time I've been here. Never saw anything different."

I glanced at the overcrowded Hermes cabin. "I don't know. It just seems kind of unfair."

As we walked past the cabins, Grant pointed out the basketball court, which interested me, since I'd played my share of pickup games before. Past the basketball hoops were the archery ranges, and off to the left was an arena and a group of picnic tables in a walled enclosure.

"What's over there?" I asked.

"The arena on the right is where we train and have fights. On the left is the dining pavilion."

"Cool."

After seeing the camp store, the spear-throwing range, the pegasus stables, the forges, and the rock climbing wall (with real lava, of all things), we walked over to the canoe lake, which looked ordinary until I noticed the teenage girls sitting underwater. When they noticed me looking, they giggled and dove down out of sight. I looked at Grant for an explanation.

"Those are naiads. Water spirits."

I looked at the spot where they'd vanished. "Right." As we looked at the lake, a thought occurred to me. "How far is the ocean from here?"

"There's a two-minute hike from the camp to the beach, and if you go to the top of the valley that's overlooking camp, you can see Long Island Sound from there."

"Cool. Is there anything that we've missed?" I asked.

"No, that's pretty much everything."

"Great. Let's-" I stopped short as a kid in an orange t-shirt walked by, causing me to do a double-take. What caught my attention was that he wasn't wearing any pants, and where his legs should have been, he had furry hindquarters.

"What was _that_? A half-llama?" I asked, once he was safely out of earshot.

"Half-goat," Grant corrected. "That's a satyr. You'll learn more about them later."

I shook my head. This day was getting more and more insane every minute.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

"This place is unreal," I remarked, as we arrived back at the Hermes cabin.

Grant nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, here's one more piece of advice. You should probably steer clear of Clarisse La Rue."

"Who? Why?"

"She's a daughter of Ares. Toughest kid in the camp. She usually gives new campers an initiation rite or something. You know, hazing."

"I'll watch out. Thanks for the warning."

"No problem." Grant opened the door to the Hermes cabin. "I should introduce you to my friend, Kaia. She's really cool."

"Sure."

Grant led me up to one of the bunks, where a girl with straw-blonde hair was lying on her stomach, playing Solitaire. She looked up at us as we came up next to her.

"Hey, Grant, what took you so lo-" She stopped mid-word as she noticed me. "Who's this?"

Grant took the job of introducing me. "Kaia, this is Jackson. He's new here. Jackson, this is Kaia."

Kaia rolled over onto the edge of her bunk and sat up. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kaia. Unclaimed." After looking me over for a moment, she added, "You're the guy who came in last night, right?"

"Yeah, that was me."

Kaia nodded. "Cool. So where are you from?"

"Massachusetts. Near Boston."

She nodded. "I'm from Portland, Maine. Have you-"

Suddenly, a loud horn sounded in the distance.

I looked up. "What was that?"

"That was the conch horn. Breakfast is in five minutes." Kaia stood up. "Let's get moving."

Around us, the cabin came alive with movement as everyone around the room scrambled up and formed a line in the middle of the cabin. Grant, Kaia, and I joined the end. When everyone was in a line, we filed out and walked down to the dining pavilion. Grant and Kaia sat on either side of me. The rest of the cabins slowly filtered into the pavilion. As soon as all the tables were filled, some women that looked sort of, well, _wooden_, served the breakfast. I looked at Grant questioningly as I picked out a plate of toast and strawberries.

"Wood nymphs," he explained.

I didn't know what on earth a wood nymph was, but I figured that I'd find out. As I took my plate, I saw that all of the campers were lining up at a bronze brazier and taking a little bit of food off their plates and putting it in the fire. Grant and Kaia stood up, along with the rest of the Hermes cabin.

"At every breakfast and dinner, we sacrifice a bit of food to the gods. They like the smell," Kaia explained to me.

I stared at the brazier. "The gods like the smell of burnt food?"

Kaia laughed. "I asked the same question once. There's something magical in the fire that makes the burnt food smell nice."

We walked up to the bronze brazier. I picked out a large, juicy-looking strawberry and dropped it into the fire. The smell wafted out of the brazier, and to my surprise, it still smelled like a strawberry. Weird.

After sacrificing my food, I walked back to the table and started to eat. Halfway through my toast, I noticed that my cup- no, _goblet_, was empty.

"Ask it for a drink. They fill up magically," Grant said.

I looked at the goblet. "Um… can I have some orange juice, please?" The cup filled with orange juice. I rubbed my eyes and blinked at the goblet. The juice didn't disappear. I picked it up and took a sip. It was definitely orange juice.

As I ate, while Grant and Kaia chattered about Camp-Half-Blood, my eyes drifted around the dining pavilion. There was a table that had kids with all blond hair, where Annabeth was sitting. That must have been the Athena table. Percy was sitting alone at his table. Jake was sitting at what must have been the Hephaestus table with three other kids. Up at the head table, Chiron was sitting at a table with Mr. D, some satyrs, and some nymphs. I found myself staring at Mr. D. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I was sitting fifty feet away from an immortal being who couldn't die, and could probably kill me with a wave of his hand. It was weird to remind myself that I shared DNA with someone who could do those things as well.

I sat back and looked around. Camp Half-Blood looked amazing. And Grant and Kaia seemed pretty cool. This could be the start of a great friendship, and that was better than I had hoped for coming into this camp. I hadn't even spent a full day here, and it was already blowing me away.

**A/N: What do you think of chapter three? Please review! Tips and feedback are welcomed and appreciated. Also, I'm looking for a beta, so if anyone would like to do that, please let me know. Anyway, once again, please review! Thank you. Air Force Muffin out.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

Over the next couple of days, I started to settle into a routine at Camp Half-Blood. I got to know Grant and Kaia better. I was exempt from the game of Capture the Flag, since I hadn't learned how to wield a weapon yet. Instead, I got to lounge on the porch of the Big House with the oh-so talkative Mr. D and listen to the screams and yells coming from the woods. Lovely.

It actually wasn't that bad, since there was someone else on the porch to talk to, at least for a few minutes.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Mr. D had his face buried in another wine magazine and wasn't responding to anything, so I was basically alone on the porch. I was leaning against the railing and looking into the sunset when I heard a voice behind me.

"Don't tell me that you were a tree for seven years as well."

I turned around and saw a girl standing there. She was taller than me and had short black hair, and was was wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans. "No. Does that sort of thing happen often around here?"

She shook her head. "Apparently not."

I looked back at the sky. "So, how come you're missing Capture the Flag?"

She sighed. "I just told you, I've been a tree for the last seven years. I just got turned back into a human a few nights ago. I get to sleep in this house for a couple of days while they sort out whatever they have to sort out."

"They?"

"The Olympians. Chiron. The campers. I don't know. Everyone's making a big deal out of me. I guess I'm not supposed to be alive or something? I just don't know what to think." She looked at me. "Enough about me. What are you doing up here with nobody but a god on parole and a former tree to keep you company?"

"My story is much less exciting, I'm afraid," I said.

She looked at me expectantly. "Yeah?"

"I just got here yesterday and I don't know how to hold a sword. I'm exempted from the game because if they gave me a sharp weapon and asked me to fight, I'd probably impale myself."

The girl snorted. "That's very interesting. Anyway, what's your name?"

I held out my hand. "Jackson Crossley."

She shook my hand. "Thalia. Daughter of Zeus." As we shook, a weak static shock passed through her hand and into my body. She looked out at the sky and then back at me. "Who's your godly parent?"

"I don't know. I'm still unclaimed."

"Okay." She stood up and cracked her knuckles. "I'm going inside. Nice meeting you."

"You too."

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

On Sunday, my only official thing to do was to report to the archery range for my beginner's class, which turned out to be a complete disaster.

About five minutes after three o'clock, I hurried onto the archery range and looked around for my instructor, who was supposed to be the head of the Apollo cabin.

"Are you Jackson Crossley?"

I turned around and saw a brown-haired kid with a thousand-watt smile and a bow slung over his shoulder. "Yeah."

He unslung his bow. "I'm Lee Fletcher, head counselor of the Apollo cabin. Nice to meet you. If you'll follow me…"

Later, after showing me the basics of how to hold a bow and notch an arrow, Lee let me try to shoot. My first shot didn't go as well as I hoped.

I took a deep breath, pulled back the bowstring, and let the arrow fly.

It flew three feet and plopped into the grass like a dead pigeon.

Lee was obviously trying not laugh, but he managed to keep a straight face. "Uh… Try pulling the string back further next time," he advised.

I picked up the arrow and tried again. This time, I pulled the bowstring as far back as I could and lined up with the target. I pulled back the string a tiny bit more, but then suddenly, the string snapped, and somehow, the arrow flew _backwards_, smacking me in between the eyes and knocking me to the ground. This time, Lee couldn't hide his amusement, and he bent over, snickering.

"Jackson, I think that I can safely say that you are _not_ a son of Apollo. Would you agree?"

"I don't know about that. Everyone has trouble at first, right?"

Lee shook his head. "Jackson, I've been shooting arrows for nine years, and I've played in international tournaments. I've taught people from ages seven to forty-seven how to hold a bow, but not once have I ever seen someone shoot an arrow _backwards_ and hit themselves in the forehead. Especially not an Apollo kid."

"Maybe it's my special skill."

"I doubt it," Lee said. "Look, you actually broke the string. I've never seen an Apollo kid do _that_." He handed me another bow. "Try this one. The string is thicker."

I took it and tried to notch the arrow again. It slipped out twice before notching.

Lee watched with a slightly mocking smile on his face. "Need some help?"

"What would help is closing your mouth," I snapped.

Lee stepped back but kept the thousand-watt smile on his face.

That smile was getting more annoying every minute.

I pulled the string back cautiously and aimed down towards the target, before pulling it back a little further and starting to release the arrow.

That's when everything went completely wrong.

As I released the string, I stumbled, causing me to jerk the bow to the right, and sending the arrow sailing wildly off to the right. I recovered my balance just in time to watch the arrow skewer a large tree branch a hundred yards away from the archery range. The branch fell off the tree with a loud _crack_. And then a girl literally melted out of the tree and started yelling in an unfamiliar language and shaking her fist at me. Then she switched to English, and I immediately recognized an amazingly diverse arsenal of swear words. I even heard a couple new variations, which really shouldn't be repeated anywhere. Then she threw a large acorn at me. Said acorn hit me square in the forehead at extremely high velocity, right in the spot where I had been smacked by the wayward arrow before. I collapsed to the ground, moaning. The girl vanished back into the tree, leaving me with a splitting headache and Lee Fletcher, who wasn't making things better.

In fact, I would have preferred the headache.

Lee had collapsed to the ground as well, but he was shaking with laughter. "Ja- Jackson- let me tell you a couple of things," he said through his laughter.

"Well, tell me," I said crossly.

"Number one, that girl was a dryad. They're tree spirits. You hurt her tree, which made her mad at you. Number two, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

"I have no idea."

Lee ignored my reply. "I have never seen anybody do a worse shot than that! How the _Hades_ did you manage to put the arrow more than a hundred yards off target? I couldn't have hit that branch if I tried, and I'm a son of Apollo. To say the obvious in case you don't get it, you're not a son of Apollo."

I gritted my teeth. "Why don't you just shut the hell up?"

Lee's thousand-watt smile finally started to melt. "Watch that language."

"Stop acting like my mom and just tell me what I did wrong there so I can fix it."

"You looked like an idiot, but something tells me that you're going to have a hard time fixing that."

I froze. "Did you just call me an idiot?"

"No." Lee handed me another arrow. "Here, try to shoot in the general direction of the target."

I ignored his obvious lie and took the arrow, notching it without trouble. Then I aimed it at the target, drew the string back, and let it fly. Naturally, my shot was the worst one yet.

The arrow went soaring away from me before flipping to one side and altering its course. When the arrow flipped, it turned in a way that basically turned it into a boomerang. The arrow swung and actually reversed course, flying straight back towards me and still spinning like a boomerang. I ducked just in time as the arrow spun right over me, taking a tuft of hair with it, and dug into the earth behind me.

Lee stared at me in stunned silence. His face was bright red from trying to hold his laughter in.

I stood up. "Uh… is that physically possible?"

Le finally gave in to his laughter and fell to the ground, sounding like a hyena on helium. When he'd finally gotten his annoying giggles out, he stood up. "Jackson, I have to applaud your shooting, because it's so bad that it's almost good. Almost. Honestly, that's the worst shooting I've ever seen."

I clenched my fists and stepped closer to him. "You think I'm funny or something? Would you like to see how far I could shoot an arrow up your ass? I guarantee that I won't miss that."

Lee's thousand-watt smile finally started to melt. "Why don't you go take a walk and cool off your attitude?"

I shoved the bow into Lee's hands. "Only if you go learn not to be a jackass. That's an hour of my life that I won't have to spend with your face in my line of sight."

I stalked off without waiting for an answer. Good riddance.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Finally, on Monday, I found myself going into my first training session. My instructor was supposed to be a dude named Hector.

I walked into the arena, which was filled with kids sparring with all manner of sharp materials, from swords to daggers to spears to some blades that I didn't even know the name for. I dodged between two girls who were sparring and went to the center of the arena, where I was supposed to meet Hector.

A few moments later, a taller, black-haired kid with beard stubble who looked at least four years older than me approached. He spoke in a not-unfriendly voice. "You Jackson?"

"Yeah."

He smiled slightly. "Nice to meet you," he said, holding out his hand. "Welcome to Camp-Half-Blood. I'm Hector Alvarez. Unclaimed." A slight sneer came over his face as he said "unclaimed," but it passed quickly.

I shook his hand. "Jackson Crossley. Also unclaimed."

"Nice to meet you," Hector said. He nodded seriously at me. "I hope you fit in well here. I don't like seeing a demigod struggling. Unfortunately-" his expression turned bitter- "That's getting to be too common lately, mainly because most of the unclaimed kids think that the gods don't care about them. Of course, in some cases, they're probably right." He gestured around the arena. "We've had a lot deserters in the last two years."

"Uh... okay. Thanks."

"You want to get started?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

Hector picked a sword off a nearby weapons rack and handed it to me. "Here, try this out and see what you think."

I picked up the sword and swung it experimentally. Hector watched expectantly.

"How does it feel?" he asked.

I shrugged again. "I don't know. How's it supposed to feel?"

Hector gestured towards a dummy on a stand. "Try taking a swing at that dummy."

"Sure." With two hands, I swung the sword at the dummy, impacting it on its side with the flat of the blade, like a baseball bat.

Hector pursed his lips. "Huh," he said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure if that's the right weapon for you." He pulled a spear off the rack. "Try this instead."

I exchanged the sword for the spear, stabbed at the dummy, and looked at Hector to see how I did.

He scratched his chin. "You look more natural with the spear- why don't we try using that?"

"Sure. Should I-"

A drawling voice came from off to the left. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the new kid. I don't believe that we've had the chance to meet."

"Oh, Styx," Hector muttered.

I turned and saw a brown-haired girl leaning against the rack of weapons, who was taller and much more muscular than me, and was wearing an army vest, camouflage shorts, and a crimson handkerchief around her head. She had a spear strapped to her back and also looked like she'd be able to flatten me without batting an eye.

"Um… Who are you?"

"I'm Clarisse La Rue, kid, and who are you?"

So this was the girl that people were telling me to stay away from.

"Jackson Cr-"

She held up a hand. "Never mind, I've heard enough. I bet you think you're tough stuff, don't you, driving into camp in the middle of the night like that?"

"Why do you care?" I shot back. Bad move.

Her eyes flared. "You tryin' to sass me, kid?" She stepped forward. "Cause I can wipe the floor with you in five seconds."

"Look, Clarisse, why don't you just leave?" Hector said, stepping in.

She turned to him. "And what are you, Alvarez- his guardian angel?"

"Just leave him alone. He didn't do anything," Hector sighed.

"I know," Clarisse said. "I want to see what he can do." She unstrapped her spear and leveled it at me, electricity crackling around the tip. "Try to defend yourself… if you can."

Yup, I was dead.

Most of the kids around us had stopped to watch the fight, and I was pretty sure that they knew who was going to win already. So did I, and the winner's name did not start with a 'J.'

"Clarisse-" Hector said warningly, raising his sword.

"Stay out of this, Alvarez. You can't protect this kid every second of the day," Clarisse said. Then, without warning, she turned and stabbed at me.

I jumped out of the way of her stab, and swung my spear awkwardly at Clarisse, who easily dodged my attack and, with lightning speed, slammed me in the side of my head with the shaft, which came pretty close to knocking me out. I staggered back, trying to clear my vision, as Clarisse advanced on me, twirling her spear. I took several deep breaths as the arena came back into focus around me. I was in no hurry to get knocked down again. Clarisse moved closer.

"You don't seem like such a tough guy now. You want me to call your mommy and tell her to come bring you home?" she taunted.

I gritted my teeth. I'd had enough of this.

"You deaf, newbie? Come on. Get over here and face your defeat like a-"

I took another deep breath, looked up, raised my spear, and charged, letting loose a yell as I approached Clarisse at high velocity. All around me, everything seemed to slow down. I could see the group of campers that had stopped to watch the fight. I could see Hector worriedly watching my charge. I saw Clarisse's face. She didn't look surprised at all. And I briefly saw her spear coming up and slamming into the side of my head.

The combination of the electric shock and blunt force was too much for me to handle. I toppled forward, the floor rushing up to meet my face as everything went black.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

I woke up, and the first thing that I registered was my change in surroundings. I was no longer in the arena.

How did that happen?

The last thing that I remembered was getting knocked out by Clarisse.

Where was I?

I looked around. I was sitting in a bunk in the Hermes cabin. Grant, Kaia, and another boy who I didn't recognize were asleep in three lawn chairs outside my bunk. I rolled off the bed, stood up, and tapped Kaia on the shoulder. Her eyes flew open, and she gaped at me in mild alarm.

"Jackson!" She stood up. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess," I said.

Kaia hugged me with tears in her eyes- and then she stepped back and punched me in the shoulder. Hard.

"Ow!" I yelped, grabbing my shoulder. "What was that for?"

She shoved me. "Jackson, what the Hades were you thinking, charging Clarisse like that? You looked seriously hurt! We were worried about you!"

I held up my hands. "All right, I admit that I made a stupid decision. I won't do it again. What time is it?"

Kaia looked at a clock on the wall. "Actually, I have to wake Perry up so he can check you."

"Perry?" I asked. I looked at the kid that I didn't recognize. He was tall and lanky, with a pale-ish complexion.

Kaia shook Perry's shoulder. He jumped up, looking around.

"Wha- what's going on?" he asked wildly. Then he noticed me standing and relaxed. "Oh, you're awake. You look much better. I'm Perry. Perry Levine."

"Hi."

"Let me run a check on you, and then you should be fine to go." He took a stethoscope that had been hanging around his neck and put it on various places on my body- my neck, my chest, my cheek, and my forehead, and listened closely each time, while I wondered what the hell he was doing. Finally, he stood up. "Well, good news. You've made a full recovery. No signs of any head trauma at all. There was a fracture in your cheekbone- it's completely restored."

"You got all that from a stethoscope?" I asked dubiously.

Perry fingered the cord. "It was a gift from my dad. It lists injuries and medical disorders in a person, gives a diagnosis, and gives suggestions on how to best heal them."

"Who's your dad?" I asked.

"Asclepius. God of medicine and healing." Perry sneered slightly. "He's also a better healer than Apollo could ever hope to be. That's why I treated you here instead of taking you to the Apollo cabin." He put his stethoscope down. "So Clarisse did this to you?"

"Um, yeah."

He scowled. "I hate her. She's so fucking arrogant. She just walks around camp, flaunting her parentage and practically rubbing it in our faces."

I noticed that Kaia looked more than slightly uncomfortable with what Perry was saying.

"So, um, are you a healer in the Apollo cabin?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

Perry scowled. "No, and only because Asclepius is my dad and not Apollo, so that makes me an 'unqualified healer." He made air quotes around 'unqualified healer.' "What they don't realize is that Asclepius was a better healer than Apollo. Asclepius was such a skilled healer that he could bring people back from the dead. Zeus got mad and killed him with a thunderbolt because of that, but then Apollo threw a hissy fit because Asclepius was his son, and Zeus brought him back and made him a god. Now, millennia later, how much recognition does Asclepius get? None! Sure, there's a few plants named after him, but Apollo got seventeen fucking space missions named after him! Asclepius was better, dammit!"

He wheeled and punched the bedpost. Grant, who had woken up sometime during Perry's rant, laid a calming hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Perry, calm down. You just saved Jackson from some pretty bad injuries. That's something to be proud of."

Perry stood back and took a deep breath. "You're right." He turned back towards me. "You're free to go, by the way."

I smiled. "Thanks, Perry."

"No problem at all," Perry said. "Grant lent you his bed for the night while you recuperated."

I looked at Grant. "Really? Thanks, man."

Grant looked away. "Anytime, really."

"Come on," Kaia said. "I hate to break up the moment, but breakfast is almost over, and I'm starving."

I ducked into the bathroom, pulled on a fresh T-shirt and shorts, and joined Grant and Kaia at the entrance to the dining pavilion. I sat down next to Hector, who handed me a plateful of food.

"I saved you some breakfast," he said.

I took the plate gratefully. "Thanks." I dug in. "I need to go thank Perry. I really do."

Hector shook his head. "Perry never accepts thanks for healing someone. He says that it should be a free service. He enjoys healing people. Problem is, he never gets much of a chance." He took a sip of his orange juice. "Times are tough for children of the minor gods around here. The same for the unclaimed kids. They all just become outcasts. That's why so many of them are leaving. They're tired of being the outcasts. They just want a better life, and that's what the Titans are promising. I mean …" He trailed off.

I swallowed a piece of bacon and turned to Grant and Kaia. "I have training again in a few hours. I hope that I don't run into Clarisse," I said to them.

Kaia frowned. "I really think that you should go talk to Chiron about her."

"Look, I think things are going to be better from here. I've been beaten up by her once, so now that she's proved that she's better than me, I don't think she's going to do it again."

Kaia looked at me incredulously. "Are you even listening to yourself right now?"

"Look, if she tries to kill me again or something, I'll go to Chiron. But the last thing I want to do right now is look like a tattletale."

Kaia shook her head. "If you say so."

**A/N: There you are. Please review and tell me what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong. Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**A/N: Here it is! Chapter five! Don't forget to review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

The next day, I was back in the arena as Hector gave me a few pointers on how to hold a spear.

"-So a two-handed grip is how you're supposed to do it if-" He stopped abruptly, dropping his spear as he tracked something over my shoulder. "Don't say anything," he muttered, moving past me.

"What-" I turned and saw Clarisse and another kid walking by. I automatically backed up as Hector sidled up to them, and they had an exchange of words that I couldn't make out. Suddenly, Hector reached out, grabbed the other kid around the shoulders, and shoved him face-first into a pile of armor, sending shields and breastplates flying. He turned back to Clarisse, said one last thing, and came back over to me.

"What the-?!" I exclaimed, watching Clarisse kneel over the other kid, who looked down for the count.

"Revenge," Hector said simply. "Clarisse won't be coming after you again."

I blinked. "Sure…?"

Hector picked up his spear. "Anyway, I was showing you different spear grips, right?" he asked, like he hadn't just thrown someone across the room.

"Yeah…"

"Okay, so, the two-handed grip is how you're supposed to do it…"

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Over the course of the week, things slowly started to return to normal. On Saturday, I had my first game of Capture the Flag, which was pretty fun and a little bizarre.

For this match of Capture the Flag, since I had had some training, I was no longer exempt from the game. Tonight's match was Athena, Hermes, Poseidon, and Hephaestus pitted against Apollo, Ares, Zeus, Demeter, Dionysus, and Aphrodite. Annabeth was calling the shots for our team, the red team. I was on border patrol with Jake. Grant and Kaia were part of the defense team for the flag. I was given a helmet with red plumage, a spear, and a large shield. Jake had his sword and the same helmet and shield. After Annabeth gave some last-minute orders, the conch horn blew, and the red team dispersed. Jake and I trekked down a side path towards the creek.

"So, how are you liking camp?" Jake asked conversationally.

"It's pretty cool," I responded.

After that, we walked silently until the creek came into view.

I sat down on a rock by the bank as Jake took out his sword and examined it. He looked up. "Any clues in determining who your godly parent is?"

"Sort of. I ruled out Apollo," I replied.

"Why?"

"I can't get along with Lee Fletcher, and I also can't shoot for my life."

"Huh." Jake tossed a pebble into the creek and watched it sink. "I still think that you could be a son of Hephaestus," Jake said.

I looked up at him. "You think so?"

He nodded. "It kind of looks that way right now. If you want, I can show you around the forges tomorrow, you know, see if you have an affinity for working with tools or anything like that."

"Sounds good. You got a time that works?" I asked.

"We're usually in the forges at around early afternoon-ish. I'll ask Beckendorf if I can get you in or something."

"Who's Beckendorf?"

"Head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin. I'll ask him about you."

"That'd be great. I can be there at anytime. Should I be down at the forges at, I don't know, one o'clock?"

"That should work. I'll check." Jake put away his sword and surveyed the woods on the other side of the creek. "It's quiet, isn't it?"

He spoke too soon.

There was a loud **BOOM** and a blinding flash of light, and then Jake was sprawled out on the ground with his clothes smoking and his eyes closed.

"Jake? Jake?!"

I dashed over to him. He was breathing. I could feel his heartbeat. His pulse was strong and steady. He seemed okay, aside from the singe marks on his hair and his missing eyebrow, just unconscious. What had knocked him out?

Behind me, a twig snapped.

I spun around, raising my shield. A girl with a red helmet stood there with her spear pointed at me. I backed up to one of the trees. If this was Clarisse, then I was doomed. Then I noticed her spear. It wasn't electric. I lowered my shield, but only slightly. "Who are you?"

The girl sighed. "Honestly, you'd think that the lightning would tip you off."

I recognized her voice. "Thalia?"

"At last he catches on." She stepped forward. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got a flag to get to." She slashed her spear at my helmet, but I blocked her attack with my shield.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. If you want to get to the flag, you'll have to get past me." I raised my spear.

Thalia stepped back. "Well then, if that's the case." She tapped her bracelet, which expanded into a large shield, but the shock of seeing a bracelet turn into a shield was nothing compared to what was on the shield itself. Carved into the shield was the most horrifying face that I'd ever seen. It was Medusa, with her snake hair flailing about and her mouth captured in a horrible grimace. The image pervaded my mind and roused my deepest fears and worst nightmares. I screamed. I screamed as loud as I possibly could, and I curled up into a ball under my shield, trying futilely to get away from the horror of the sneering image. But the image had burned itself into my mind, and every time that I tried to close my eyes, Medusa's face appeared in my mind. Distantly, Thalia spoke.

"Oh, is it that bad? Whoops. Sorry."

I heard the click of the shield retracting, and, miraculously, Medusa's ghastly image disappeared from my mind. When it didn't return after several seconds, I sat up slowly. Thalia was standing there with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry about that. My shield's pretty strong."

"Yeah," I said weakly, my voice scratchy from screaming.

"So… You'll have to let me by, or the shield's coming back out." Thalia's hand went to her bracelet.

"No!" I slashed my spear at her hand, making a small cut and whacking the bracelet out of her hand.

Thalia's eyes widened, and she stepped back and raised her spear. "You want a fight, then? I'll give you one, then."

She came at me swiftly and stabbed her spear. I barely deflected it with my shield and racked my brains for one of the moves that Hector had shown me. I clumsily blocked her next strike with my shield and went for her legs in a low, sweeping blow like he'd shown me. Thalia jumped away from the strike and went for my helmet with her next move. Once again, I blocked with my shield, and tried to retaliate with a slash at her torso. Thalia blocked it with the shaft of her spear and turned my momentum into leverage against me and pushed back into a deadlock. I couldn't hold it, and Thalia threw me down to the ground. I scrambled backwards, raising my shield as Thalia advanced. Then she hooked her foot under the edge of my shield and with a powerful kick, kicked it out of my hands and off to the side, leaving me defenseless to her next blow. I rolled to one side and stood up, only to be backed up to a tree by Thalia at spearpoint.

I held up my hands in surrender. "You win?"

Thalia looked at me. "Yeah. Do you remember when you said to me that you didn't know how to use a sharp weapon, so you'd probably impale yourself?"

"Yeah."

"You still look like you're going to impale yourself."

"Wow, thanks."

"You need some help with training?"

"No, I'm good. I've only been here for a week. Give me a break."

She shrugged and raised her spear. "Suit yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a flag to get to."

I stood up. "Wait, hold on, what-"

I probably should have considered that Thalia, as a daughter of Zeus, was the culprit behind Jake's incapacitation, and was about to do the same to me. There was a clap of thunder, and everything around me was brilliant white for an instant, before fading to black.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

I opened my eyes and found Jake, Grant, and a kid from the Apollo cabin looking over me. I groaned. My entire body tingled, and I felt like I'd just received the worst static shock of my life.

"You okay?" Grant asked.

I shook my arms, legs, fingers, and head. Everything felt fine, aside from a small headache. "I think so. What happened?"

"The game's over. You got blasted by lightning," Jake explained.

The Apollo kid took out a small piece of a lemon square. "Here, eat this," he said, breaking off a piece. I took the square and chewed it. It tasted like the bacon that Adam's mom made every morning. I would always stop by his house every morning, usually accompanied by Trey, to grab a piece. It tasted like friendship.

"Thanks, I said, standing up. "What was that?"

"Ambrosia," the Apollo kid said shortly. He walked away.

I looked at Jake. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Am I missing an eyebrow?" he asked, feeling his forehead.

"Actually, yeah," I replied, staring at the faint line of singed fuzz on Jake's forehead.

The three of us started to walk back to the camp. Suddenly, Jake stopped. "Hold on. I left my sword back at the creek. Don't wait up." He took off back towards the creek.

I briefly watched him run before continuing with Grant. "Did we win?"

Grant pressed his lips together. "We lost. Clarisse snuck in and stole the flag while we were chasing Thalia away."

"That's too bad, I guess. Where's Kaia?"

"Back at the Hermes cabin." Grant looked at me and cracked a grin. "Honestly, Jackson. You've only been here a week, and you've already gotten yourself knocked out twice. You're going to kill yourself before the summer's over."

I shrugged. "I've just been unlucky."

"I can tell."

Grant and I walked back to the Hermes cabin and went inside. Kaia was already asleep on her bunk. I went over to my sleeping bag and smoothed it out. Behind me, Grant shifted uncomfortably. I looked up at him. "Are you all right? You look like something's eating you."

Grant swallowed. "Jackson, I never got the chance to apologize for the fiasco with Clarisse on Monday. I mean, I didn't tell you this, but Kaia and I were in the arena and we saw what happened. I should've jumped in and tried to defend you."

"Hey, none of that," I said. I patted my sleeping bag. "Sit down."

Grant sat down. "I just feel guilty that I stood there and watched you get destroyed. I should've done something." He sighed. "I just don't like the fact that I didn't do anything."

"Don't feel bad. If you tried to jump in, you probably would've ended up right next to me on the ground." I pulled out a pack of cards from under my sleeping bag. "No hard feelings. How about a game of Go Fish?"

"Sure."

"Here, you shuffle," I said, handing him the cards.

The sullen look started to disappear from Grant's face as he shuffled the deck and dealt out the cards to me and him. "You can go first," he offered.

"So how long have you and Kaia known each other?" I asked Grant. "Got any twos?"

"Nope. Go fish." He shook his head. "I've known Kaia since my first week at camp. I sat next to her at the dinner table and she noticed my Red Sox cap. We started talking, and uh, we've been best friends ever since. We've known each other for two years now. Got any sevens?"

I checked the card that I'd picked up. It was an ace. "Yeah, here's the seven." I handed him the card. "Do you see her outside of camp?"

"No, not really. I'm a year-rounder, but Kaia isn't, so…"

"Yeah. Got any queens?"

"Yeah," Grant said, handing me his queen. "Got any threes?"

"Nope. Go fish. Got any nines?"

Before Grant could reply, a pillow smacked me in the side of my face. An extremely annoyed voice came from a college-age girl with curly black hair sitting upright in a bunk across from us, who was holding another pillow in her hand, ready to be thrown. "Will you two losers shut up and go to sleep?!" she snarled.

"Sorry, Danielle," Grant said, hastily gathering up the cards. Danielle grumbled something unintelligible at us and slipped back under her covers.

"Who was that?" I asked, as Grant put away the cards.

"Danielle Reynolds. She's unclaimed, but we've had a suspicion for a while that her mother is Athena."

"The black hair…? I thought all Athena kids had blond hair."

Grant shrugged. "That's why it's only a suspicion."

Another pillow came at us, hitting Grant full-on in the face. "I told you assheads to go to sleep!" Danielle growled. "And stop talking about me before I impale both of you!"

"Fine, fine!" Grant said quickly. "We're going, we're going!" He literally dove onto his bed and under the covers. Deciding that Grant had taken Danielle's threat seriously and that I probably should as well, I quickly burrowed into my sleeping bag. Within minutes, I was well on my way to dreamland. Being threatened to be impaled will do wonders for your dreams.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

The next day, after lunch, I headed down to the forges to meet Jake. My first impression of the forges was that it was _loud._ I walked in and was greeted by a cacophony of noise. Hissing and creaking and crackling and clanging, and banging and squeaking and screeching. The door slid shut behind me as soon as I entered.

Four different people were spread out in front of me, working on various things. One of them was welding two pipes together. Another was hammering out a sheet of celestial bronze. The last two were over by a gigantic oven, forging something that I couldn't make out. The place smelled like oil, grease, and fire. I kind of liked it.

The kid who was welding noticed me standing there and stopped welding. He lifted up his mask. "Yo, Jackson!"

"Jake." I strolled over to him, avoiding the random bits of machinery littering the floor. "I'm here. What's the grand tour?"

Jake shook his head. "I've got to finish this welding job, and it's going to take a while, so Beckendorf's going to give you the tour." He pointed with the welding nozzle to the African-American kid who was hammering out the sheet of celestial bronze. "He's over there. I've got to get back to this." Jake flipped down his welding mask and went back to work.

I walked over to Beckendorf and tapped him on the shoulder. "You Beckendorf?"

He turned around. "That's right. Would you happen to be Jackson?"

"Yeah."

He pulled off his Kevlar gloves and held out his hand. "I'm Charles Beckendorf, head counselor of the Hephaestus cabin. Everyone calls me Beckendorf."

I shook his hand. "I'm Jackson. Jake seems to think that Hephaestus is my dad."

Beckendorf nodded. "I heard." He put down his hammer. "Anyway, these are the forges. That's Nyssa and Rafael over there," he said, pointing to the two kids by the forge.

"I'll introduce them later, when they've finished that sword that they're working on." He reached over and grabbed some safety goggles from the table and handed them to me. "Put these on. All visitors have to observe proper safety protocol in here. Don't touch anything unless I tell you that you can, don't get too close to the machinery, and if I tell you to duck, there's a reason. Got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. All right. Here we go." Beckendorf made a sweeping gesture with his arms, showing off the whole workshop. "This place was designed for a lot more than four people, so it looks a little empty right now. We stay busy in here, though, what with the upcoming Titan War and all. We've got a lot of weapons to make. Things to repair, traps to build, defenses to shore up." He picked up a mason jar with a timer and a mess of wires attached to it. "Yes, this is exactly what it looks like. It's a bomb."

I backed up a step. "Is that thing going to off?"

Beckendorf put the jar back down. "Not a chance. It isn't primed."

"Oh."

Beckendorf moved on to the forge where the other two kids, Nyssa and Rafael, were finishing the sword. "This is how we make a lot of our weapons, with the forges," he explained. The girl, Nyssa, took a pair of huge steel tongs, pulled the glowing red-hot sword out of the furnace, and dipped it into a barrel of water. A cloud of steam rose up, hissing furiously. The other kid, Rafael, lugged over a block of marble and laid it on the table.

"Watch this," Beckendorf said.

Nyssa pulled the sword out of the water. She ran her Kevlar-gloved hand over the edge of the sword, and then she swung it into the marble block, cleaving it like it was cheese. I was impressed, but Nyssa just shook her head. "It's off-balance. It needs a little more work," she said to the other kid, who presumably was Rafael. She turned back to the forge and pushed the sword back into the coals.

Beckendorf smiled proudly. "In the Hephaestus cabin, we strive for only the very best, as you can see." He walked over to where Jake was welding the two pipes together. "Jake's making a replacement part for one of our forges. The fuel line that kept the fire going broke two days ago. He's welding a new pipe together right now."

Jake turned off the welder and lifted up his mask. "Beckendorf, the pipe's actually finished right now. I can put it back in. I'm going to need some help, though."

Beckendorf nodded and looked at me apologetically. "Can you wait a minute?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

Jake picked up the pipe and grunted with effort. "Can you guys give me a hand?"

"Sure." Beckendorf and I grabbed an end of the pipe. Together, we lugged the pipe over to the side of one of the forges, which had a gaping hole in the side.

"Put it in there," Jake said. "No, stay out of there, Jackson- you don't know what's in there."

I stepped back as Jake and Beckendorf wrested the pipe into the small chamber. After a second, Jake's head popped out.

"Can you bring me that big number three wrench on the wall there?"

"Sure." I lifted the wrench off the wall and handed it to Jake, who ducked back into the chamber. After a few grunts and squeaks, he and Beckendorf climbed out of the hole.

"It's in. Testing time," Beckendorf announced. He nodded to Jake, who opened a control panel on the side of the machine and started flipping on a row of switches. The machine rumbled to life with a vicious clattering noise.

Beckendorf frowned at the sound of the clattering. "Something's not right. Jake, shut- HOLY SHIT!"

A wall of flames burst out of the side of the damaged forge. Jake swore loudly and jumped back as the control panel was engulfed in the sudden inferno.

"SHUT IT DOWN!" Beckendorf screamed over the roaring flames.

Jake shook his head. "I can't get to the control panel!" he yelled back.

"CUT OFF THE POWER! THE FUSE BOX!"

I jumped in, trying to help. "Where's the fuse box?"

"The beige box on the far wa- Wait, Jackson, don't- you won't-"

Ignoring Jake's warning, I scrambled across the room to the fuse box, threw the door open, and located the emergency shutdown switch, which was a giant red lever labeled "EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN" in black letters. I pulled it down as hard as I could. Immediately, the lights in the room sputtered out, and the hearth in the working forge died down. The flames stopped leaping out of the damaged forge and all of the noise in the room died to a low hum.

I stepped back over to Jake and Beckendorf as the clouds of smoke in the room began to clear. Rafael and Nyssa were on the scene immediately with a pair of fire extinguishers, putting out the remnants of the blaze. Jake and Beckendorf stared at me with surprise evident on their faces.

"What?" I asked.

"How did you do that?" Jake asked.

"What? Turn off the power? Was that supposed to be hard?"

"I guess not, not for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Beckendorf looked at me, then the fuse box, and then back to me. A slow grin spread over his face. "I'll be darned," he said finally. "I don't believe it."

"What are you talking about?"

"That fuse box, the one you just opened-"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, that fuse box is tuned to only let descendants of Hephaestus open it and use it."

"And?"

"And? And? Jackson, this proves that you're a son of Hephaestus! You opened it and pulled that emergency shutoff switch easily; that means that you're directly descended from Hephaestus!"

"How directly?" I asked suspiciously.

"Erm, well, a demigod is the most likely, but it's not out of the question that you're a legacy. You could be a grandson of Hephaestus or something."

I noticed Jake paling drastically as Beckendorf said the word 'grandson.'

"No, I'm pretty sure that my dad was a Greek God," I replied.

Beckendorf grinned hugely. "That proves it! Welcome to Cabin Nine!"

"Hold on. _Hold on_." I held up my hands. "Are you telling me that I'm a son of Hephaestus, just because a _cabinet _said so?"

"Well, um, yes, but-"

"That's stupid," I decided bluntly. "I'm supposed to let a metal box with some circuits and a few charms on it tell me who my father is?"

"Look, it's not as simple as that. The fuse box is-"

"Look, no offense to any of you, because you guys seem really cool, but I'm going to wait until I'm claimed by Hephaestus to call myself a son of Hephaestus. I just can't place my faith in a _box_ to tell me who my dad is. Nothing personal."

Although he looked slightly hurt, Beckendorf nodded. "I understand."

"Yeah. Thanks for showing me around," I said awkwardly.

"Anytime, I guess."

I started towards the door. A thought occurred to me before I left. "Why is that cabinet thing even charmed for that stuff, anyway?" I called over my shoulder.

"It keeps people who don't know what they're doing from doing something stupid," Beckendorf explained.

"Okay."

I left the forges and headed towards the Hermes cabin, mulling over the revelation. I was a son of Hephaestus. But why hadn't he claimed me? It wasn't like he was busy or anything. He was immortal. He had all the time in the world. Unless…

What if he wasn't my father?

What there was another god like Hephaestus who was my parent, who was directly related to Hephaestus?

As I approached the Hermes cabin, I decided to put the subject of my godly parent on the back burner for a while. I had to get to archery class.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

I was hoping that Lee wouldn't be there, but when I showed up at the archery range, there he was, with his annoying thousand-watt smile somewhat wilted. I plastered a smile that felt more like a grimace onto my face and approached him.

"Crossley," Lee said in greeting.

"Fletcher," I replied.

He handed me a bow and an arrow." "Why don't we try to improve on your absolutely horrible shooting from last time? You can only go upwards from rock bottom."

"I'd love to, but there's so much wind coming from your mouth that I can't shoot straight."

Lee sighed. "Jackson, that attitude isn't helping your shooting any."

"My attitude? You were the one who was being an asshole to me last Sunday! Maybe if you don't just blather on about how bad I am at shooting and try to actually _help_ me, I would be better at this!"

This was not going well.

Lee didn't reply, and motioned towards the target twenty feet away. "Take a shot."

"Sure." I put the arrow back and started to pull the string back, before the arrow fell off. I tried again and fumbled the string as I was getting the arrw on, causing the arrow to fall off again. Lee didn't even try to hide his snickering. I glared at him. "Do you mind? I'm trying to shoot. Besides, what did I say about you trying to be nicer to me?"

Lee put his hand over his mouth, muffling the snickers somewhat. "Carry on."

I finally got the arrow in and pulled the string back far enough that it wouldn't fall to the ground like a dead pigeon, and not so far back that the string would snap. Behind me, Lee quietly muttered something.

I whipped around as I released the arrow. "What did you just say?"

"Eyes on your shot, Jackson," was all he said, with a smarmy grin on his face.

I looked towards where I'd shot my arrow and saw a very angry kid stalking towards us. He had an arrow embedded in his wooden practice shield.

Oops.

As the kid came closer, I noticed that it was Rafael from the Hephaestus cabin.

"All right, which one of you bastards thought it would be funny to shoot this arrow at me?" he said fiercely, yanking the projectile out of his shield and waving it at us.

Lee pointed at me with an expression of angelic innocence. Rafael spun to face me.

Crap.

"Uh- sorry about that. It was an accident. I was shooting my arrow, and then Lee distracted me by saying something, and I looked at him right as I was shooting my arrow," I stammered out.

Rafael glared at me for several tense seconds. Then he brightened. "Oh, you're the new Hephaestus kid. No hard feelings." He tossed me the arrow and walked off towards the weapon shed.

Lee looked at me. "What was that about, Jackson? If I heard right, that guy just called you 'the new Hephaestus kid.'"

"It's not that simple. They _think_ that I'm a son of Hephaestus, but I actually haven't been claimed yet. Beckendorf thinks that I'm as good as claimed, though," I explained.

Lee nodded. "Well, Hephaestus isn't exactly known for their archery." After scrutinizing my face, he added, "They aren't exactly known for their good looks, either. I'm not really surprised."

I stepped up to him. "You think there's something funny with my face, Fletcher?"

"Well…" he drawled, "Your eyebrows are too bushy. That hair isn't helping things at all. It's just all matted down in the front."

"I didn't ask for an answer!"

Lee raised an eyebrow "Oh? I thought you did. You look like you just got out of bed. Your face in general makes you look more like a caveman, though. Honestly-"

"Fletcher, it was a rhetorical-"

"-Honestly, I'm not surprised that you're a son of Hephaestus. You sure look the part. Rather ugly."

"Fletcher-" I was speechless. Even with all of Lee's bad attitude with me, I had never expected animosity on this level.

"Fletcher, I-" I stopped again. Lee just stood there with a smirk on his face that seemed to say, _bring it._

I did.

"Fletcher, you're an asshole."

On their own, those words would have been nothing. But I punctuated them by punching him in the nose, making the message much clearer. The crunch was satisfying as he collapsed to the ground. "So long, Fletcher. I hope I don't see you again." I stalked off the archery range. I was done with archery class. Fletcher could rot in hell for all I cared.

**A/N: What do you think? Please review, because reviews and feedback are all it takes to make this story better. Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: Here it is! Chapter six! Please read and review! Reviews are the lifeblood of this fiction! Thank you! **

I trudged into the Hermes cabin and dropped onto my sleeping bag. I studied my knuckles, which had a small amount of blood on them, and wondered if Lee was still on the ground at the archery range. Probably not. He'd probably picked himself up by now.

The feeling of getting revenge on Lee was starting to fade, replaced by dread. I couldn't believe what I'd done. I'd punched a head counselor in the face, and I didn't have any proof that Lee had actually said what he had said. It was my word, the word of a camper who had barely been here a week, versus the word of a head counselor who'd probably been here for years.

"You're back pretty early from archery class," Grant remarked, interrupting my thoughts, as he sat down next to me.

I looked up. "Yeah."

"How'd you get out?"

"I punched Lee in the face and left," I answered shortly.

All activity directly around me screeched to a halt as six pairs of eyes landed on me.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud.

"You _WHAT?_" Grant gasped. The look on his face suggested that he thought I was a violent, raving lunatic. He had every right to think that, as well.

"Do you know what Lee was doing before I punched him?"

"No, but Jackson, why the Hades would you do that?"

I sighed. "Let me explain. I didn't just go and punch him without justification."

"How do you justify what you did?!"

I stood up. "I'll explain. Where's Kaia? She needs to hear this."

"Right here!" Kaia said. "Jackson, what did you get yourself into _now?!_"

Everyone around me was still looking at me in stunned silence. Finally, Hector spoke in a low voice. "Jackson. What the hell happened?"

I sat down, took a deep breath, and began. "It all started when I showed up for my first lesson…"

By the end of my explanation, Hector was purple in the face and clenching and unclenching his fists. "So let me get this straight," he said with a barely controlled undertone of ferocity, "Lee Fletcher has been treating you like dirt ever since he met you?"

"That's right," I said.

He stood up. "I'll strangle his scrawny little neck!"

Before he could move any further, a girl pulled him back down. "Don't do anything rash. You'll regret it later," she advised.

"I don't care!" Hector exploded. "He's being a goddamn bastard! I'd like to see his face when I go after him!"

One of the other kids who had been listening in on the conversation shook his head in disbelief. "I know Lee. He doesn't seem like the sort of guy who would do something like that," he said.

Hector fixed a murderous glare on the other kid. "Do I have to strangle your biased neck as well, Ben?" he growled.

"I just think we should hear both sides of the story," Ben added hastily.

Hector glared at him. "I think that I've heard enough, don't you?"

Before anyone could reply, the door to the Hermes cabin opened, revealing an irate-looking Chiron, and Lee Fletcher. At least, I thought it was Lee. He had a mountain of gauze wrapped around his nose, and I could barely see the rest of his face. Chiron made eye contact with me and sighed heavily. "Mr. Crossley, will you please come with me?"

I stepped forward. Nothing I could do now. "I'm coming."

Nobody else said a word as I left with Chiron and Lee.

We went to the Big House in silence, where Chiron escorted Lee and me into the room with Seymour on the wall, and sat us down at a table with a pitcher of lemonade and a bowl of corn chips on it. None of us touched them.

Finally, Chiron spoke. He looked at me. "Jackson, Lee is accusing you of punching him in the nose without being provoked. This is very serious."

I looked from Lee to Chiron. "Lee's half right."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Please explain."

"Okay, I admit that I punched Lee." Chiron's eyebrows traveled miles upward and Lee looked gleeful through his bandages, but I continued. "But I've got a good reason for doing it."

"Explain, please," Chiron said.

I recounted the events of what happened during my first two archery classes to Chiron. By the end of my recollections, Chiron was regarding Lee with a contemplative stare. Lee had become very interested in the design of the carpet.

"Lee," Chiron began. "What Mr. Crossley just said is very serious. Do you wish to change your story of what transpired this afternoon?"

Lee said nothing and continued to stare at the floor.

"Well, then," Chiron said, "I am going to assume that Mr. Crossley's words are true, Mr. Fletcher. This is very serious, and I will ask you to stay behind for a chat," he said, with a look that made it clear that Lee was in as much trouble as I was. "I will issue punishments to both of you. Jackson, you will have to do cleanup duty in the stables for the next week, and in addition, you will have extra dishwasher duty for two weeks. That is all for you."

I breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I could deal with extra cleaning duties. Now that I knew that I wouldn't be expelled or something, I could relax.

Chiron turned to Lee. "Mr. Fletcher, you will on dishwasher duty for two weeks, and one week of cleanup duty in the stables."

Lee stood up angrily. "What? But-!"

Chiron's glare was icy. "No 'buts,' Mr. Fletcher. I would believe that calling Jackson ugly and making fun of his appearance, as well as giving him disadvantageous treatment in your lessons, is as bad as Jackson punching you in the face." He stepped back from the table and turned back to me. "I will remove Mr. Fletcher's lesson from your schedule and look for a replacement immediately, Mr. Crossley."

I nodded as Lee stood in stony silence. "The meeting is over, gentlemen," Chiron said. "You may leave, Mr. Crossley. Mr. Fletcher, stay behind."

Not wanting to turn down a free ticket out, I left quickly. That felt like a victory in my book.

I arrived at the Hermes cabin with the banner of victory flying over my head and headed over to where I'd been sitting before.

"Back so soon?" Hector asked as I sat down.

I grinned. "Chiron listened to me. Lee's in as much trouble as I am."

The group of kids around me broke out in applause. Hector slapped me on the back so hard that I thought I would choke. I slapped hands with three kids whose names I didn't even know. I couldn't believe that these guys would show me so much support. I guess Hector was right. The Hermes cabin really did stick together.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

That night, I had a strange dream.

I was standing inside a chariot that was going at full speed down a road. All around me, open fields flew by as the chariot blazed down the path. The sun was starting to set in the distance. Next to me was a teenager taller than me, gripping the reins white-knuckled, with sweat pouring down his face as he hunched over the top of the chariot. His mouth was set in a tight line, and his eyes were focused intently on a point in the distance. He was breathing heavily through his nose and flicking the reins repeatedly.

"Um… hello?" I asked tentatively. The charioteer didn't reply, or show any signs of acknowledgement at all. Weird. I surveyed the road ahead in hopes of sighting our destination. All I could see was a glimmering ribbon of blue on the horizon that was quickly growing bigger.

The driver's face brightened, and he straightened up. "The coastline," he whispered in ancient Greek. "I can win it!" He flicked the reins. "Faster!" In the distance, the setting sun seemed to briefly glow brighter. The chariot sped up somehow, and the ocean grew from a ribbon to a massive blue blanket that covered the land in front of us. My companion in the chariot flicked his reins once again, and the horses put on one final burst of speed, and the chariot thundered onto the beach, kicking up a spray of sand, and into the water, where we screeched to a halt. The chariot overturned in the water, sending out a spray that doused me in seawater. I climbed out of the chariot in a slight daze. The driver climbed out as well and looked across the water at the setting sun, which hadn't touched the water yet. Upon seeing the position of the sun, he let out a scream of joy and fell to his knees in the water.

"I've done it," he whispered in an awed voice.

Suddenly, from behind us, there was a blinding flash of light, and an agonized scream.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

My dream dissolved, and I woke up. I blinked and looked around. Everyone else around me in the cabin was sleeping peacefully. A faint sea breeze lingered in my nose, giving me pause. Had I actually gone to wherever that place was, in my sleep? Really, it wasn't that outlandish, considering that most of the laws of physics and science that I knew had been broken in the last week or so. I sat up, shaking my head to get rid of the fogginess. It was the middle of the night. I suddenly felt confined and claustrophobic in the cabin. I needed to get some fresh air. I climbed out of my sleeping bag and stealthily left. Outside, everything was quiet. The camp was deadly quiet, and the moon was high in the sky, casting a ghostly glow on the ground.

I began to walk, thinking about my strange dream. Who was that stranger? What was the scream at the end for? Why was the stranger so happy when he saw the setting sun?

I didn't have any answers. After a minute, I looked up and saw that my footsteps had taken me to the Big House. I climbed up the steps and leaned against the porch railing, taking in the view of the campas I thought about the dream. Everything was eerily calm, until I heard a voice behind me.

"Mr. Crossley, do you have a reason for lurking on my porch at two-thirty in the morning?"

I spun around. "Chiron?"

Chiron stood in the doorway of the Big House, looking tired and slightly irritated. "Mr. Crossley, is something wrong?"

"No, I-I just had a weird dream. I went for a walk."

Chiron nodded. "I see. Do you want to talk about the dream?"

I shook my head.

"Then it would please me greatly if you could get back to sleep."

"Uh, sure." I started to leave, until I realized that Chiron might have a few answers to some of the questions I still had. I might as well take the opportunity to ask them while he was there. I stopped and came back up the stairs. "Chiron, wait."

Chiron, who had been about to go inside, stopped. "Yes?"

"I have a question."

He closed the door that he had been about to enter. "Ask away."

"Are there ancient laws that forbid the gods from having continuous direct interaction with their children?"

He gazed skyward in thought for a moment. "There are, yes. Why?"

"My mom told me that my godly parent couldn't visit me because of some ancient laws or other things like that. I wanted to make sure that he wasn't just putting one over her so he could escape the problems of having a child."

Chiron looked horrified. "Surely not! The ancient laws are something that the gods must abide by. Otherwise, they face severe consequences."

Exultation flooded through me at the realization that my dad, in fact, did not intentionally abandon me. "Sorry I woke you up," I apologized.

"It is quite all right, Mr. Crossley. I was already awake. I've been battling insomnia for the last week or so. It is quite unpleasant, and I feel that it is a side effect from almost losing my immortality," Chiron said. He did look rather sleep-deprived.

"How exactly does one go about almost losing their immortality?" I didn't even know that Chiron was immortal.

He sighed. "It's a very long story."

I sat down in one of the deck chairs. "I have plenty of time. After the dream I just had, I won't be going back to sleep anytime soon."

"Very well, then." Chiron settled onto the edge of a deck chair. "I shall begin."

He went on to tell me the entire story of his immortality and how it worked, how he was fired from his job, Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, and Tyson's quest into the Sea of Monsters, and how Thalia was resurrected. The entire story was jaw-dropping. It literally sounded like something out of a freaking storybook.

"So that's why everyone thinks Percy is the child of the prophecy? I have to admit, he's tougher- and smarter- than he looks," I admitted. I couldn't imagine the heroic Percy Jackson being the same Percy Jackson as the dolt who slept though the entire car ride on a quest that he was supposed to be leading.

Chiron nodded. "A lot of people, myself included, have come to that conclusion about Percy."

I stood up and stretched. "Um, I need to use the bathroom. Is there one in the house?"

"Go in the main entrance and into the hallway, and there should be a staircase at the left. Go up to the second floor, and then the first door you see on the right should be the bathroom."

"Thanks." I went inside and followed Chiron's instructions to the second-floor bathroom. After relieving myself, I stepped out and was about to go back downstairs when I heard a loud _creak_.

I paused. "Hello?"

There was no answer except for another _creak._ It seemed to be coming from above me.

Curiosity got the best of me. I followed the noise up the stairs to the third floor. When I emerged from the staircase, I found the source of the noise- a trapdoor from the ceiling was swinging loose in midair with creaky hinges.

I almost turned around right there, except that my ADHD turned into OCD right then, and of course I just had to close the trapdoor. As I reached up to the latch, a hiss came from within the attic, scaring the crap out of me.

_Enter, seeker, and ask._

I scrambled backwards, expecting all manner of monsters or horror movie demons to jump out, lusting for my blood, but when none came, my wonderful ADHD-fueled curiosity returned and got the best of me. I pulled the ladder down from the trapdoor and slowly made my way up. The attic was pitch-black.

"Hello?" I called out cautiously. The hissing, raspy voice spoke in reply. It sounded vaguely female.

_Approach, seeker, and ask._

"Who are you?" I asked to the blackness.

_I am the Spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Heroes come to me, seeking their destiny, and the future is what they hear. Approach, seeker, and ask._

"I- I'm not a hero. I was just using the bathroom."

_Approach, seeker, and ask._

"I just came up to close the trapdoor, not to get a prophecy."

_Approach, seeker, and ask._ Her voice was more insistent this time. A green mist curled out of the blackness and around me.

Wonderful. Seeing no choice, I groped around in the darkness until I felt a chain above me, and I pulled it. A lone lightbulb ignited above me, spreading the attic in a weak glow.

_Approach, seeker, and ask._

I whipped my head in the direction of the voice, and what greeted me almost caused me to run out of the attic, screaming loud enough to wake up Dionysus. In the corner of the attic, the green mist curled out from a horrible, decaying mummy wrapped in equally aged robes, with a single long-dead sunflower perched in her hair.

_Approach, seeker, and ask._

"Is there any chance that I could just say 'no' and leave?"

_APPROACH, SEEKER, AND ASK._

Whoa. Pushing down my revulsion, I approached the mummy. "Um, what- What is in my future?"

The green mist flooded out of the mummy's mouth, covering me with a whoosh. As I listened, the whooshing of the mist turned into a rasping voice that spoke all around me.

_The child of the exiled god will come,_

_And face fear, to which he must not succumb,_

_He will go west but not belong,_

_To face a decision that takes almost too long,_

_To escape again from a king's aim_

_And to restore transport's name._

The voices fell silent, and the green mist retreated back into the mummy, leaving me alone in the attic. I stood there in silent shock for several more seconds before coming to my senses and tearing out of the attic, down three flights of stairs, and out the front door like a bat out of hell. Chiron looked up in concern as I collapsed on the front porch railing, gasping in fright.

"Ch-Chiron!"

"What? What is it?" Chiron asked urgently.

"There's something- green mist- it was hissing- a mummy in the attic, it said it was the spirit of Delphi-"

"The Oracle? What were you doing with the Oracle?"

"The- the- the what?"

"Mr. Crossley, I want you to take a breath and tell me, in a calm manner, exactly what happened."

I slowed my breathing, still clutching the railing for dear life. "The- I-I went to the bathroom, and then I heard a creaking noise from upstairs, and I went to check, and there was a trapdoor hanging down from the ceiling, and I was going to close it, and then somebody hissed at me from inside the attic, and there was a mummy with green mist, and it kept saying 'approach, seeker, and ask,' and it wouldn't stop, so I did, and then it said a bunch of stuff-"

"Mr. Crossley, please take a breath and try to stay calm. Did you say that the Oracle _talked_ to you?"

"Is that what the green misty-mummy thing in the attic is?"

"Have you ever heard of the Oracle of Delphi, Mr. Crossley?"

"No…"

"The Oracle," Chiron began, "is a spirit that can see the future and give prophecies. If you get a quest, you go to the Oracle for a prophecy."

"That's what it said to me! And then- and then- the green mist came out of its mouth and surrounded me- and then it started talking in rhymes-"

"Rhymes? What exactly did the Oracle say?"

"Well- it kept telling me to approach and ask, and it wouldn't take no for an answer- so I had no choice, and I asked it, 'what is my future?' and it started talking in rhymes, and then it went silent."

Chiron looked skyward, and was silent for a long time, long enough that I started to worry. Finally, he looked back at me. "Mr. Crossley… the Oracle just gave you a prophecy," he said solemnly.

"A prophecy? But I- I'm not going on a quest."

"You don't always need a quest for a prophecy."

I fell silent.

"Would you mind telling me exactly what the prophecy said?" Chiron asked.

"Yeah, I guess. Um, the first line was… _The child of the exiled god will come_."

Chiron nodded, a worried look briefly passing over his face. "I see."

"Um, the second line was _And face fear, to which he must not succumb._ And then, um, I think the third line was _To go west but not belong…_ After that, uh, um, I'm pretty sure it was _A decision that takes almost too long..._ and then _To journey west again and find that his blood is not the same… _and the last line was _And to restore transport's name._"

Chiron said nothing after I finished reciting the prophecy. After a minute or so, he appeared to reach a decision. "Mr. Crossley."

"Yeah?"

"That prophecy… Try not to obsess over it. Prophecies are hard to be interpreted and can be fulfilled in unexpected ways."

"So are you saying that I should just try not to think about it?"

"Yes."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"I guess I can do that."

Chiron nodded. "You should return to your cabin. If you stay out any longer, you might be found by the cleaning harpies."

"So?"

"You would be eaten," he replied.

"Oh." I stood up. "I'll be going, then."

"Have a good night," Chiron nodded wearily. "I shall try to defeat my insomnia, and you shall return to your cabin," he finished in a voice that was more like an order than a suggestion. He went inside the Big House, leaving me alone on the porch.

Off to my left, I heard a faint rustling. It sounded like wings far-off in the distance. Harpies had wings, didn't they?

I vaulted off the porch and hightailed it back to the Hermes cabin. I did _not_ want to find out if the harpies actually used curfew breakers for their main course.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Later, at breakfast, I was sitting between Grant and Kaia, enjoying some French toast and a bowl of fruit salad. "Fruit salad is one of mankind's greatest inventions," I proclaimed around a mouthful of grapes and cantaloupes, to Kaia.

"Oh?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Would you like to hear the story of its origin?"

I scooped up a pineapple cube with my spoon. "Sure."

Kaia began. "Long ago, there was a mortal who bragged the she could make a better salad than Demeter could. Demeter, of course, upon hearing this, became enraged and challenged the mortal to a salad-making contest. The winner would be judged by Dike, the goddess of fair judgment. Demeter made her salad from her finest greens, creating a true work of art. Upon tasting it, Dike declared that it was the best greens that she had tasted. Demeter was sure of her victory, and laughed at what the mortal had made. The mortal had brought with her a collection of chopped pomegranates, pineapples, grapes, strawberries, and an unknown green fruit, creating a salad of fruit. But when Dike tasted the fruit salad, she immediately declared that the winner was the mortal, and that the best ingredient in her salad, the unknown green fruit, was better than all of the greens in Demeter's salad. Demeter was furious, and in her rage, turned the mortal into the green fruit that was in the salad. Dike demanded that Demeter turn the mortal back, but Demeter refused. Dike then released the girl's soul from the fruit and into the underworld. In her memory, Dike named the green fruit after the mortal. The mortal's name was Cantaloupe."

I choked on, coincidentally, a piece of cantaloupe. "_What?!_"

Kaia smirked. "Did you actually believe that?"

"Wait- THAT WAS MADE UP?!"

"Yeah."

"How did you just make that story up just like that?!"

Kaia just took a sip of her orange juice and pantomimed putting on a pair of sunglasses. "Deal with it."

I shook my head and went back to my fruit salad. "You're unbelievable."

She bit into an apple. "That's how I like it."

I looked at Grant. "Has she done this stuff before?"

Before Grant could answer, Chiron stood up and clapped his hooves against the ground. "May I have your attention, campers!" he called out.

The pavilion fell silent as every camper turned to look at Chiron.

"I have an announcement to make about the chariot races," he called.

Murmurs immediately broke out among the campers. I looked at Grant. "Chariot races?"

Grant looked hugely excited. "The chariot races!"

"What are they?"

"The chariot races were reinstated this year. At the end of every month, there's a race. Each cabin that enters the race has a chariot. The cabin that wins the race of that gets no chores for the upcoming month. This is a huge deal. Do you realize just how much free time we could get without chores?" A faraway look came into his eyes. "Imagine… the stuff that could be done…"

Kaia reached over and smacked him in the back of the head. "I recognize the look that a Hermes kid gets when they're planning something. Forget it."

Grant smiled sheepishly and rubbed his head where Kaia had hit him. "Ow, Kaia, that actually hurt. Anyway- wait, Chiron's going to say something."

I turned back to face Chiron, who had stood up again and was waiting for quiet. When it came, he spoke again. "We will be continuing the chariot races for one last month. On July thirtieth, we will hold the race to determine which cabin will be without chores for August. The sign-up sheet will be posted outside the Big House today after lunch." He sat back down.

The pavilion started buzzing again with excitement. I looked at Grant. "Is the Hermes cabin going to sign up?"

"Heck yeah!" he exclaimed. "How could we not? In fact, I'll go double-check with Travis and Connor right now." He stood up and went down to where Travis and Connor were sitting.

I thought back to when I had been driving the Dodge Charger to camp, and I felt an urge to go try out for the chariot races. It felt like racing would come to me naturally.

Grant shook me out of my thoughts by sitting down next to me again. "Travis and Connor said that we're definitely going to be entering the race. Our chariot is still trashed from when Clarisse and the Ares chariot flipped it over in the last race, and they want revenge."

"Is the chariot fixable?"

"Probably." He tilted his head at me. "You know, that reminds me. The rumor around camp is that you're a son of Hephaestus."

I guess that I should have expected that word would travel fast in a camp full of teenagers. "Do you believe that?"

Grant shrugged. "I'm not sure. It depends on who started the rumor."

Suddenly, someone clapped a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Hector, Travis, and Connor.

"Jackson, a quick word?" Hector asked.

"Sure." I stood up, and Hector, Travis, and Connor led me over to the corner of the pavilion. "What's up?"

"With the rumors around camp about your parentage…" Travis began.

"Hector decided that we should give you a try in the driver's seat of the chariot…" Connor continued.

"Because he thinks that we aren't competent enough," Travis finished.

I gaped at them. "Are you serious? I can't drive!"

Travis looked at me incredulously. "Says the kid who drove here all the way from Massachusetts in a Dodge Charger!"

"Oh." I thought back to the night of my arrival. Strangely, Hector had a point. When I was driving that night, it felt almost like second nature. That, combined with the evidence that I might be a son of Hephaestus, made Hector's suggestion viable.

"It's just a feeling," Hector added. "But I feel like you would be better than the rest of the competition."

I nodded. "Okay, then. What do you want me to do?"

"Be at the chariot track next Monday at five A.M. We're having tryouts," Travis said.

"Deal." I shook hands with the three of them, and returned to my seat.

"What was that about?" Grant asked when I got back.

"Hector thinks that I might be good enough to drive the chariot in the next race."

Grant looked at me, startled. "What?!"

I shrugged. "Exactly my reaction. Hector says that it's a feeling he has."

Kaia leaned over and snagged a peach from a basket in the middle of the table. "I've learned to trust Hector on the feelings he gets. He's usually right."

"I still don't see how he could think that I'm a better driver than Travis or Connor, because- Oh, hi, Chiron. What's up?"

Chiron had come up next to us. "Hello, Mr. Crossley. I just thought that I might remind you that your punishments for punching Mr. Fletcher in the face start today. Report to the stables after breakfast."

"Oh. Cleanup duty?"

Chiron nodded.

I slid my toast away from me. Strangely enough, I'd lost my appetite.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

The week flew by as I really settled into a groove. After two weeks of one-on-one training with Hector, I felt slightly competent with a spear in my hands. Also, thanks to punching Lee, I spent an unhealthy amount of time on pooper-scooper duty in the stables. It was not pleasant.

On Saturday night, I suited up for another game of Capture the Flag. This time, it was Hermes, Apollo, Zeus, Poseidon, and Demeter against Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, and Aphrodite. Grant was on the defense squad, and Kaia was on the advance team. After a few last-minute directions from the Stolls, who were running our team, we spread out. Percy and Thalia were leading an attack squad, while everyone else was either on border patrol or guarding the flag. I had border patrol again, and this time I was going solo.

I was by the creek, surveying the woods when I heard voices coming from across the creek. I froze, before ducking behind a tree, clutching my spear. I peered around the trunk and saw two armored, helmeted figures standing at the other bank of the creek. One of them was speaking, and I recognized her voice as Annabeth's.

"Jake, you've already told me about your suspicions, and my answer is the same," she said firmly.

"But you were the one who thought he was his father originally!" the other figure, who must have been Jake Mason, argued.

"I never said he was his father. I just said it was a possibility."

"Annabeth, look at the facts. He never drove a car before and he drove like he was a natural. He could _talk_ to the car, for crying out loud!"

_He was talking about me! _

I listened more closely to their conversation and took a risk by leaning my head out a little more past the tree.

"Those can be powers of a child of Hephaestus as well."

"But the odds of a child of Hephaestus having those powers are astronomically low- lower than-"

"Lower than the odds of Percy being a son of Poseidon?" Annabeth interrupted.

"But that was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Percy really isn't even supposed to be here."

Annabeth's tone became dangerously low. "This is a time of war. When more powerful enemies come, more powerful heroes come."

"Huh," Jake said. "You think Jackson's just an exceptionally powerful son of Hephaestus?"

"Yes." Annabeth shook her head. "I don't believe your theory, Jake. If this was true, then Jackson would be dead. Zeus probably would have killed him himself. Or maybe Apollo. They both have a grudge against him."

This conversation was starting to sound a little like the conversation in the car back on the journey down to Camp Half-blood. Annabeth had mentioned a god who I might be a son of. What was his name? Vinny? Velcro?

My struggle to remember the name of the god was interrupted by Annabeth standing up. "We'll talk about this later. We have a flag to get to, you know."

To my horror, they started wading through the creek towards the tree that I was hiding behind.

I was outnumbered, two to one. I needed to level the playing field a little. I needed the element of surprise. I looked up and saw a way out. Directly above me, there was a massive dead tree branch. I just hoped I wouldn't make another dryad mad by doing this.

Right as Annabeth and Jake passed me, I thrust my spear upwards into the branch with as much force as possible. With a tremendous _crack_, the branch split and fell, smacking Jake in the front of the head, and as he fell down on his back, landing on top of his shins, trapping him underneath. Annabeth escaped the path of the falling branch and spun around, wielding her dagger. I slipped behind the tree as she knelt by Jake.

"Jake? Are you okay?" she asked.

Jake moaned and tried to push the branch off his legs. "I'm absolutely wonderful. Can you help me get this off?"

As Annabeth started to raise the branch off of Jake, I stepped out from behind the tree and raised my spear over Annabeth, aiming to knock her out. Jake saw me behind Annabeth, and his eyes widened.

"Behind you!" he yelled in warning.

Annabeth tucked and rolled out of the path of my spear as it smacked into the dirt, and popped up, holding her dagger.

"Why were you guys talking about me back there?" I asked, as Annabeth and I circled each other.

Jake started and struggled harder against the branch. "Jackson?"

"Yeah." I attempted a stab, which Annabeth dodged.

"How much of that did you hear?" Jake asked, as he tried wiggling out from under the branch, without success.

"Everything you said after you guys reached the creek," I answered, blocking a strike from Annabeth with my shield. "You're trying to figure out who my dad is."

Jake stopped struggling against the branch and tried reaching for his sword, which was a few feet out of his reach. "Exactly."

"Who do you think my dad is?" I asked Jake, blocking another strike from Annabeth with my shield.

"Vehiclos," Jake said grimly.

Thunder rumbled overhead.

That was the name of the god Annabeth had mentioned on the first night. Vehiclos. The Greek God of transportation.

"He's wrong, though," Annabeth said. "Vehiclos was exiled from Olympus twenty years ago for insubordination to the Olympians. Zeus' last words to Vehiclos were something along the lines of 'Your children will pay dearly for your crimes.' As in, Zeus would kill any of Vehiclos' children. If you were Vehiclos' son, you would be dead right now." She slashed her dagger through a hole in my defenses and smacked me in the helmet with the flat of the blade. I staggered back.

"What if- what if, by a freak chance, I was his son?" I asked, countering with a slash of my spear.

"Then Zeus would kill you when he found out," Annabeth said simply. She lowered her shoulder and charged into my raised shield, pushing me off balance. I tumbled backwards into the creek and my shield fell out of my grip. Annabeth put her foot on my chest as I raised my spear again. "Do you surrender?" she asked, pointing her dagger at my face.

"No way," I said firmly. Unexpectedly, I swept my spear at Annabeth's legs, knocking her to the ground as I scrambled up and put my knee onto her chest, trapping her beneath me. Hector's training was paying off. "Do _you_ surrender?" I asked, wielding my spear at her.

Annabeth's reply was an amused smirk. "I think I'm good."

Suddenly, I felt the sharp, cold tip of not one but two celestial bronze swords pushing into the back of my neck.

"You should probably surrender, Jackson," Jake said from behind me.

I dropped my spear and slowly turned around. A blue-helmeted kid stood there with Jake, their swords drawn and pointed at me. The tree branch that Jake had been stuck under laid nearby, cut in half.

"Surrender," the camper said firmly.

After a second, I put down my spear and held up my hands. "Fine, fine, you guys have me."

The camper laughed as I started to get up. "That was easy. Let's-"

She never got to finish her sentence, because I jumped forward, body-checking her and jumping over Annabeth, and splashing through the creek and into the woods on the other side. I risked a brief look behind me and saw Jake and Annabeth fording through the creek after me.

I blindly stumbled through the forest, tripping over roots and random boulders. The sounds of pursuit slowly grew further away, until finally, I couldn't hear them anymore. I slowed down and looked around. Everything was quiet. Way too quiet. I was deep in enemy territory- I needed to get out. Suddenly, in the distance, I saw a flash of blue- someone on the Blue team. I dove into a bush. Then I realized what was behind the bush. I was crouching on the edge of a clearing with a blue flag planted in the middle of it. I looked around hastily. There was nobody else in sight. Had they left the flag unguarded?

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, I slunk out of the edge of the clearing and grabbed the flag, stuffing it into my pocket. I turned to run and was greeted by the sight of five campers coming out of the woods with their weapons drawn. One of them had a spear with sparks of electricity arcing around the tip. I knew who she was.

The Trojans didn't look their gift horse in the mouth, either.

I was deep in enemy territory without any weapon of any sort, and I was facing obviously hostile enemies. I looked at the advancing Ares campers with a look of grim determination on my face. There was only one thing for it.

It was time to see if I could run for my life.

I screamed "REMEMBER THE ALAMO!" and lowered my shoulder, charging the nearest camper, bowling him over, and leaping over his sprawling form into the woods.

I flew through the forest with branches and leaves slapping me all over. The five campers charged after me, cursing loudly. A blunt-tipped spear whistled by me, missing my head by only inches and lodging in a tree as I ducked an arrow, jumped over a small boulder, dodged a low branch, and kept running. A minute later, the creek came into view. I dared a look behind me. My pursuers wouldn't be able to catch me before I crossed the creek, which meant that I was home free. Already, I could see my teammates gathering on the other side of the creek, screaming and urging me on. I looked behind again and grinned. I could win this.

It was too bad that I never saw the tree coming.

**A/N: What do you think of the new chapter? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it somewhere in between? I'll never know, unless you click that precious review button! School has started, so I'm really sorry to say that you have to expect less frequent updates now. Sorry about that. But I will update! Air Force Muffin does not abandon a story, because Air Force Muffin is not an asshole! Thank you. Air Force Muffin out.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: Hello! Here's chapter seven! I would like to thank the anonymous reviewer who asked when the prologue ends and the storyline starts. This is the storyline that you're reading. There is no prologue. Right now, the story is all sort of slow build, but trust me, once Jackson gets claimed, the action will pick up. In fact, Jackson gets claimed at the end of this chapter, and the action ramps up from there on. If you have any further questions or suggestions, feel free to hit the review button. Thank you, and don't forget to review! Enjoy the chapter.**

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Yeah, running into a tree hurts. I spent the entire night sleeping off my wicked headache, and I still had some lingering soreness from the bruise on my cheek in the morning. If it weren't for the handy-dandy healing properties of nectar and ambrosia, I probably would have had a concussion.

But by five o'clock the next morning, I had already moved past the disappointment of losing the game. I had more important things to think about.

Still half-asleep, I got to the chariot track, where a few other people from the Hermes cabin were gathered sleepily and shuffling their feet to stay awake. Most of them looked like they'd rolled out of bed and sleepwalked down here. The exceptions to this were Travis and Connor, who were talking animatedly and looked wide awake. Well, at least two people here were morning people.

Hector came up to me, clutching two steaming paper cups. "Morning," he said sleepily, holding out the cup. "Coffee?"

"No, thanks. I'm good."

"Well, I'm not good. It's so early that a damn rooster would go back to sleep right now," Hector groused. "I'm a morning person, just not a five-in-the-freaking-morning person." He took a swig of his coffee.

"Where'd the coffee come from?" I asked.

"The Stolls brought it. I don't know where they got the coffee, and I don't care," Hector said grumpily. "All I care about is getting this over with so I can go back to sleep."

Travis stood up and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Everyone, gather around!" he called. The group of us made a circle around the twins.

"Good morning, everyone," Connor said cheerily.

No one responded.

"All right, then," he said in a slightly dejected tone. "As you know, we need drivers for this chariot race, so we invited you all to try out. Two of you will be the Hermes cabin's best chance at winning us a month without chores. We've already picked our first driver, Hector." Connor gestured at Hector, who raised a hand. "He'll be riding in the chariot with you to judge your driving skills."

"One of you will be in the chariot with him on July thirtieth," Travis continued. "Each of you are going to one lap around the track, and Hector will time you guys. If you think that we're taking this too seriously, that's because we are. I want that free chores month. Let's get started."

About a half-hour later, after all of the other campers had gone around the track in the chariot with mixed results, it was my turn. I climbed into the chariot with Hector and gripped the reins of the horses.

"Ready?" Hector asked, holding up his stopwatch.

"Yeah." I flicked the reins, and the chariot pulled away, kicking up a cloud of dust. There was a long straight before the first corner, so I used that time to get acquainted with the chariot and build up speed. As we accelerated, I felt a strange pull. If we could go faster…

"First corner!" Hector warned.

I let up on the reins enough to slow down for the sharp turn. From instincts honed by years of go-karting, I hit the apex of the turn perfectly and flicked the reins on the way out of the turn, giving us a burst of speed.

Hector nodded appreciatively. "Good driving."

I kept my attention on the reins as we sailed through the second corner. Ahead of us now was a long straightaway, the longest on the track. I flicked the reins several times and felt the speed build up. Below us, the chariot almost felt like it was… singing. There was some sort of rhythm that I was tapping into. I concentrated on the song. The faster and smoother the song, the faster the chariot was going.

"Uh, Jackson?" Hector asked.

I looked over at him. "What?"

"Your eyes were closed," Hector noted concernedly.

"I'm fine. I'm just trying to get in tune with the chariot."

I returned to focusing on the chariot beneath me. Suddenly, the landscape around us blurred as the chariot accelerated tremendously.

"HOLY SHIT!" Hector gasped, grabbing onto the side. "How fast are we going?"

"How should _I_ know?" I replied. "This thing doesn't have a speedometer!"

Hector looked out at the road in front of us. "Holy mother of Zeus… This thing isn't built to go at speeds like this!"

Backing up his point, the sound of wood cracking reached our ears. Hector bent over the side of the chariot and cursed. "The back left wheel's breaking apart!" He looked up, and his eyes bulged. "TURN!" he bellowed.

I looked up. The third turn of the track, along with the row of trees directly behind it, was shooting up to us. "God da-"

I couldn't finish my exclamation because the back left wheel snapped completely in half, jolting the chariot up and off the ground and nearly jerking the reins out of my hands. The chariot swerved wildly as I struggled to control the careening chariot into the sharp corner. The chariot tipped dangerously to one side but stayed barely upright as it lurched through the curve. I grasped at the reins and righted the chariot, and on three wheels, it limped across the finish line. Hector and I climbed out of the chariot.

"Well?" Travis asked, as we approached the group. "What was his time?"

Wordlessly, Hector handed Travis the stopwatch. Travis glanced at it, and shook his head.

That didn't look good.

Hector, Travis, and Connor conferred in a group for a minute before facing us again. "We have a winner," Hector announced. He paused, and then spoke dramatically. "Jackson!"

"_What?!_" I yelped.

The other Hermes kids broke out into protesting clamor. After a couple of seconds of this, Hector let out an ear-splitting whistle. "QUIET!" he bellowed, shutting us up.

"I picked Jackson because I think he's the one who has the best chance to deliver us victory," Hector said firmly. "Anyone who has a problem with that can take complaints up with me." He glared at us meaningfully. There was silence in return.

"My decision is final, then. Congratulations, Jackson. You're the new chariot driver for the Hermes cabin." Hector slapped me on the back.

Finally, some of the campers began to grudgingly accept the situation. I even got a few words of congratulations from Travis and Connor.

"Jackson, you have to bring the laurels to the Hermes cabin," Connor said earnestly. "We want no chores for a month." A gleam snuck into his eyes, almost the exact same face Grant had made before when he was talking about the month without chores. "We're counting on you and Hector."

"You can bet that I'll do my best," I said.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

July flew by. I trained alternately with Thalia and Clarisse, steadily learning how to fight. I was still failing epically in all of my archery lessons, although my new instructor. Lee and I still seethed in each other's presence, but cooler heads prevailed since I wasn't taking lessons with him anymore. Hector and I practiced furiously for the chariot race. I had settled comfortably into a new life as a demigod, and I was enjoying every day of it. July thirtieth dawned bright and sunny, and the chariot races were on.

All day, Hector had been a nervous wreck. He kept checking and double-checking every detail on our chariot and our race strategy. His behavior was getting annoying. Fifteen minutes before the race started, Hector was going through yet another last-minute check.

"Hector, you're being a little obsessive," I said. "It's just a chariot race."

Hector ran his hands through his hair. "I know. I just have the strangest feeling that something big is going to happen today."

"Like us winning the chariot race?"

He shook his head. "No, it's something else. Something bigger." He shrugged and picked up a bridle. "But never mind that. It's almost seven o'clock. Why don't we hook our horses up to the chariot and get our armor on?"

"Sure. Anything to keep you from checking the wheels for the tenth time."

"Actually, the twelfth time," Hector corrected. "Here, help me get the horses hooked up."

Later, after readying the horses, strapping our armor on, and Hector performing yet another last-minute check of every single thing that could possibly checked, we were ready three minutes before the start of the race. As Hector and I rolled the chariot out to the starting position, I took a look at our competition.

The Ares cabin had a huge blood-red chariot with a cannon contraption on the top, in addition to pointy things sticking out of every flat surface on the exterior of their chariot. Also, on the back was a large banner that said "HA HA" in big red letters.

The Apollo cabin had a bulky golden-colored chariot that had a turret on either side for an archer to shoot out of, and a huge boombox mounted on the back, blasting "I'm Winning" by Santana.

"I can't decide whether to run over Clarisse or Lee," Hector muttered, as we surveyed the chariots.

"Why don't we win so we can laugh in their faces?" I suggested.

A slow grin spread over Hector's face. "I like that one better."

The Hephaestus chariot trundled up to the starting line. It was low-slung, sleek, and probably full of more surprises than Chuck Norris' underpants.

The Demeter cabin had entered the race with a chariot that looked like a gardening shed on wheels and had sunflowers growing around the wheels.

The Aphrodite cabin's chariot, surprise, surprise, was hot-pink. In addition, it was beautiful to look at. The entire thing screamed "style over substance."

Dionysus' cabin had entered the race as well, and their entry was a solidly-built run-of-the-mill chariot with nothing exceptional except for the twin high-pressure water cannons on either side.

And then, of course, there was the golden team. Athena and Poseidon. Percy and Annabeth. They were the team to beat. Their chariot was streamlined to the nth degree, and one could imagine the tricks that it was bristling with. All around, it was reinforced with celestial bronze that artfully melded with the wood in other places. Their chariot looked regal compared to the others. Percy and Annabeth were heavy favorites to win the race.

Hector and I were planning to change that.

Our chariot was nothing special, and that was what its secret weapon was. The chariot was stripped down as much as possible without doing structural damage, and reinforced everywhere with celestial bronze. The result was an ultra-light and ultra-strong vehicle that wouldn't let anything in its path stop it. Aside from a rack of weapons for Hector to use, there was nothing extra except a big red button on the side that Travis and Connor had said was for the "celebration." I didn't even know what it did.

"Cabins, line up your chariots!" Chiron bellowed.

The eight chariots lined up in position for the race, which would be three laps. Our chariot ended up between the Demeter chariot and the Aphrodite chariot as Chiron raised the conch horn.

"Ready!" he called.

I looked over at Hector. "You ready?"

Hector grinned madly. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Set!"

I gripped the reins and closed my eyes. Already, I could feel the chariot beneath me, responding to my presence. Over the last month, I had worked on feeling the rhythm of the chariot and getting in tune with it. Now I would see if the practice had paid off.

"GO!"

It was show time.

The conch horn blew, and I flicked the reins as hard as I could. The eight chariots exploded off the line. I cut in front of the Demeter chariot, causing it to swerve off the track and turn onto its side.

"That's one already out of the race!" Hector stated. "Seven to go!"

I drew even with the Ares chariot and rammed its side, knocking Clarisse off-balance. She stood up angrily. "ARGH! You rotten little motherfu- OOF!"

Hector silenced Clarisse by smacking the flat of his sword into her side, shoving her backwards. She unsheathed her spear and advanced towards us, muttering curses. Hector readied himself for her onslaught.

Suddenly, a volley of tennis balls smacked squarely into him, knocking his sword out of his hands and out of the chariot. I glanced up at the source of the ball and saw the rocket launcher on top of Clarisse's chariot rotating around, firing tennis balls at us. It turned level at me, and before I could react, fired a tennis ball at my head. I ducked backwards and felt the breeze as the ball passed within inches of my nose.

The launcher fired again at me, and this time, I couldn't move fast enough, and it smacked me right in between the eyes. I staggered and just managed to hold onto the reins.

"Eat balls, punk," Clarisse sneered.

Hector, meanwhile, had to reach back and pull a spare sword off the floor. He swung at Clarisse while she was distracted, slamming the flat of the blade into the side of her head. She crumpled like a rag doll.

Hector laughed. "Not so hard to beat, are you, _Clary_?"

Clarisse groaned in reply from the floor of her chariot.

"Let's get rid of these losers once and for all," Hector announced, as he bent down and pulled a shoulder-mounted firecracker launcher off the floor, courtesy of Travis and Connor. It wasn't lethal, but it packed a powerful punch. He aimed at the driver of the Ares chariot, who looked at us at the last second and only had time to look horrified before Hector unleashed a burst of pyrotechnics on him.

The driver never stood a chance as he was thrown out of the chariot in a cloud of sparks. The Ares chariot, now driverless, veered off the track and towards the canoe lake. Clarisse hadn't bailed out, which meant she was probably in for an unexpected bath.

"Yahoo!" Hector yelled, raising his sword. "Let's go win this thing!"

I flicked the reins, and gave the horses a burst of speed. We blazed past the slow-moving Aphrodite chariot and closed in on the Dionysus and Hephaestus chariots, which were duking it out. Their battle was taking up most of the road, trapping us behind the pack.

"Hector," I said, nodding towards the Dionysus chariot. "We need to get through here."

"That won't be a problem," Hector said, patting the barrel of his pyro gun. He aimed it at the Dionysus chariot, and let loose a burst of high-velocity burst of explosive color. The Dionysus chariot's reaction was immediate, as Hector and I had to both duck when two streams of water pummeled the front of our chariot. I peeked over the side and watched the Hephaestus chariot pull away, leaving a gap next to the Dionysus chariot.

"Hector, use your pyro gun. I'm going to pull ahead of the Dionysus chariot."

"Got it." He jumped up and blasted another stream of fireworks at the Dionysus chariot. As they ducked down out of the line of fire, I flicked the reins again and closed my eyes, concentrating on the rhythm of the chariot below me. With a massive burst of speed, the chariot sped ahead, leaving the Dionysus chariot in the dust.

"Fourth place!" Hector shouted ecstatically. "We can do this, for real! And, geez, Jackson, that was fast."

I didn't reply as we took the first turn carefully, not wanting to crash on the first lap. We came out of the corner accelerating towards the three most formidable chariots- Apollo, Hephaestus, and of course, Athena-Poseidon. The Athena-Poseidon chariot had a huge lead, and the Hephaestus and Apollo chariots were too busy grappling with each other to notice us sneaking up on them.

Hector had an almost feral grin on his face as we closed in on the Apollo chariot, which was still obnoxiously playing "I'm Winning" on their boombox.

"I can't wait to cream Fletcher," he said. "Revenge will be sweet."

Slowly, we crept up on the Apollo chariot, which had fallen behind the Hephaestus chariot. As we rounded the second curve, Hector picked up his pyro gun again. "I'm going to blow up that stupid boombox," he declared.

"Go ahead." I flicked the reins and brought us a little closer to the Apollo chariot. "Fire."

Hector shouldered the launcher and aimed carefully at the boombox. "Here goes." He pulled the trigger, and a stream of multicolored gunpowder explosions blasted the back of the Apollo chariot, incinerating the boombox and setting fire to one side of the chariot.

"Success!" Hector lowered the pyro gun.

The Apollo chariot started to weave wildly in an attempt to put the fire out. I drew the chariot level with our rival and slammed into the side of it. Inside the other chariot, Lee swung to face us with a look of dismay.

Hector lifted up his sword. "Hey, Fletcher! Why did Apollo lose the chariot race?"

"What?" Lee snapped.

"There was a son of Hephaestus driving!"

Hector's punchline made no sense, but I must have been missing something, because Lee was livid.

"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!" he roared, with flecks of spit flying out of his mouth.

"Lee, calm down," I said. "It's just a joke."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Lee snarled. "IT'S AN INSULT TO MY HONOR!" He swung his sword wildly at Hector with deadly intent written on his face. Luckily, Lee's anger had made him wildly uncoordinated in his attack. Hector easily sidestepped Lee's slash and retaliated with a smack in the forehead with the hilt of his sword. Lee collapsed to the floor of his chariot. I lifted the reins to pull ahead, but Hector's warning stopped me.

"Turn ahead!"

I pulled up on the reins, slowing the chariot, and let the Apollo chariot pull ahead as they went into the second turn with way too much speed. As the driver of the chariot struggled to keep the chariot on the road, I took advantage of the breather to survey the playing field. The Athena-Poseidon chariot had opened up a gigantic lead over the rest of the field. Behind us, the Demeter and Ares chariots had dropped out of the race, thanks to us. The Aphrodite and Dionysus chariots were too far back to be a real threat at all. That meant the dangers we faced were ahead. I flicked the reins and pulled level with the Apollo chariot again. Lee had managed to get up, albeit in a very dazed way.

"You'll pay for what you said, Alvarez," he said in a low, furious tone.

Hector raised his sword. "I don't think so, Fletcher."

Before Lee could respond, Hector swung his fist, not his sword, into the side of Lee's face. Lee fell like a Jenga tower, obviously down for the count.

"Serves you right for what you did to Jackson!" Hector yelled at Lee, even though his words fell on unconscious ears. Hector turned to face me with a look of disgust on his face. "Come on, Jackson. Let's go win this race."

"Do you need to ask?" I said, flicking the reins for acceleration. We easily overtook the Apollo chariot. Hector left a parting shot, barraging the Apollo chariot with a volley of flammable fireworks that caught fire instantly.

"See you at the finish line, Fletcher," Hector said smugly, as the Apollo chariot veered off the track in flames.

I put my full attention onto catching up with the Hephaestus chariot. With no opponents coming from either direction, I took the opportunity to really open up the speed. The chariot practically flew down the track as I concentrated on pushing the chariot as hard as it could go without exhausting the horses.

Hector whistled admiringly as we mercilessly gained on the Hephaestus chariot. "Jackson, you are _really_ good at this."

"Thanks." I steered through the third turn. We were now only three chariot-lengths back from the Hephaestus chariot now, and gaining fast.

Hector shouldered his pyro gun again. "This is going to be our toughest competition. Watch out for Greek fire."

We were two chariot-lengths back. "Got it."

We were now only one chariot-length back. "Get ready," I cautioned.

Hector readied his pyro gun as we drew even with the Hephaestus chariot. Beckendorf noticed us, and for a few seconds, there was complete silence as we rode side-by-side. Then Hector discharged his pyro gun, and all hell broke loose. Beckendorf ducked behind a shield that came out of nowhere, and the fireworks bounced off harmlessly. The pyro gun suddenly sputtered to a halt.

Hector lowered his gun and cursed. "I'm out of ammo!"

Meanwhile, seeing his opportunity, Beckendorf lowered his shield and threw a small plastic cylinder into our chariot.

"GRENADE!" Hector bellowed, diving onto the floor and attempting to toss the cylinder back out of the chariot. I ducked behind a shield lying next to me as the cylinder exploded with a blinding flash in midair, and an earsplitting screech.

"Ack!" I clawed uselessly at my ears. "I can't hear anything!"

But, I could see well enough to see that the Hephaestus chariot had pulled back out in front.

Hector stood up shakily, clutching his ears. "Drive," he mouthed at me. "I'll take care of them."

I nodded, blinked the spots out of my eyes, and flicked the reins, urging the horses on and pulling the chariot back towards the Hephaestus chariot. I could feel my hearing starting to return as we gained on them again.

Hector bent down and picked up a celestial bronze spear from the floor. "Can you get as close to them as possible?" he asked.

"Sure."

We closed in on the Hephaestus chariot again. Hector raised his spear and took aim at the back left wheel. "Wait for it," he muttered. "Wait… for… it…"

I moved the chariot ever-so-closer, until…

"NOW!" Hector thundered, and he slung the spear with all of his might. It impacted the wheel perfectly, and with a tremendous _crunch_, the spear caught on the axle, and the wheel buckled inwards, shattering and crippling the Hephaestus chariot.

I steered to the left and gave the chariot a wide berth as it swerved wildly around the road before finally dragging to a halt on the side of the track.

"YES!" Hector cheered. "WE'RE IN SECOND PLACE! WE CAN WIN THIS!"

We glided through the fourth turn, and as we entered the final straightaway of the first lap, I could see the challenge that lay ahead. The Athena-Poseidon chariot was already on their second lap. I snapped the reins for a burst of speed, and we plowed onward. With no one coming from behind, I could concentrate solely on driving for the first time in the race. We steadily built up speed down the long straight. But as I powered into the first turn of the second lap, we had only gained by about two chariot-lengths on the Athena-Poseidon chariot.

"Faster," I muttered.

Hector looked at me incredulously. "Faster? We're already getting close the speeds that this chariot can go safely at! If we go much faster, we'll have a repeat of what happened at your tryout!"

I ignored him and closed my eyes. The rhythm of the chariot wheels flooded my mind. I could sense every moving part of the chariot, and even a little bit of the horses. Everything was working to perfection. Except that we weren't going fast enough. If we were going to win this race, I needed to squeeze every drop of speed out of this chariot. I concentrated on the rhythm.

_Dun…dun…dun…dun…_

Faster.

_Dun..Dun..Dun..Dun.._

Faster.

_ . ._

Faster.

_Dundundundun-_

Faster.

_Dundundundun!_

Faster.

_DUNDUNDUNDUN-_

Perfect.

"HOLY SHIT."

I opened my eyes. Everything around us was a blur.

"Jackson, what just happened?! Our speed doubled!" Hector choked.

I looked around. I felt strangely calm, like I could handle going at speeds like this. "I'm not entirely sure, actually. I just tapped into the rhythm."

Hector was clutching to the side of the chariot as we thundered down the track. "What rhythm?!"

"Never mind, I'll explain it later." We were closing in on the second turn of the track. I gripped the reins and steered us through, fighting the momentum of the chariot the entire way. We slid through in a cloud of dust with minimal speed loss.

Hector looked ahead. "We're gaining on them." He pointed ahead to the Athena-Poseidon chariot, which was now only four chariot-lengths ahead. Then it was three. Then it was two. Then it was one. Then it was one-half. Then-

"OH MY GODS!" Hector yelled. We rocketed past the Athena-Poseidon chariot like it was standing still. The looks on Percy and Annabeth's faces were priceless. Then we were ahead by one, two, three, four chariot lengths and still going.

"FIRST PLACE!" Hector shrieked. "WE'RE WINNING!" He started jumping up and down and actually shaking my arm.

"I'm trying to drive here!" I shouted.

"Oops. Sorry," Hector said, embarrassed, as he withdrew his hand, calming somewhat.

I looked back for a brief second. The Athena-Poseidon chariot was getting farther back every second.

"Third turn!" Hector warned. I looked up and actually slowed down a little for the turn. We slid through smoothly and blasted down the second-to-last straight before the finish line.

"I don't believe it! We're going to win! WE'RE GOING TO WIN!" Hector screamed.

I looked at the stands by the finish line. The Hermes cabin was on their feet and cheering us on. The gap between us and the Athena-Poseidon chariot was bigger than it had ever been.

"Aw, yeah," I whispered. "Let's finish this." We went through the fourth turn smoothly, and pulled out in a power-slide, of all things. Now, nothing stood between us and the finish line. Hector and I watched gleefully as we blasted across the finish line in first place.

Hector roared with delight. "WE'VE DONE IT! WE WON! WE WON! IN YOUR FACE, FLETCHER! IN YOUR FACE, CLARISSE! WE WON!"

The Hermes cabin poured out of the stands and mobbed our chariot as we came to a stop. Hector reached over and pushed the big red button that Travis and Connor had put in. Out of nowhere, a stereo rose out of the chariot and started blasting "We are the Champions" while confetti launched out of the side of the chariot.

Hector smirked as we were surrounded by the Hermes cabin. "Leave it to Travis and Connor to put something like this in," he said.

We stepped out of the chariot and climbed onto the winner's podium as Chiron and several nymphs came over with the laurels, which they draped over me and Hector.

"I don't believe it!" Hector said. "A month with no chores!"

"I know! A month where we can laugh in Lee Fletcher's ugly face because I beat him! I won a race!"

Hector looked at me to respond, but then his face went ghost-white. A collective gasp went up from the crowd.

"What?" I asked. Everyone was staring at me.

Hector pointed weakly to a spot above my head.

I looked up and saw a spinning 3-D hologram of a chariot directly over my head. Somehow, I knew what that symbol meant. And then everything became crystal-clear. I knew why I could talk to cars and why I was a natural at driving. I knew how I had been able to tap into the rhythm of the chariot and speed it up. I knew how I had gotten the shoes that turned into a car, and I knew who had given them to me. I was now in mortal danger. I had been claimed.

The crowd had fallen dead silent now. Jake Mason looked like his worst fears had been confirmed. Lee Fletcher looked furious. Annabeth looked shocked. Hector looked nauseous. Grant and Kaia looked horrified. And me? I was scared. Very scared.

The first line of my prophecy from the Oracle came back to me.

_The child of the exiled god will come._

The child of the exiled god had come, that was for sure.

Chiron finally managed to speak. "All hail Jackson Crossley, son of Vehiclos, god of transportation and races."

**A/N: What do you think? Please review! Now the plot starts to pick up… Jackson gets claimed! I appreciate all reviews. Thank you very much. Air Force Muffin out.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

**A/N: Here it is! Chapter eight! Enjoy this chapter. There should be plenty of action. Don't forget to review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

I finally made my way back to the Hermes cabin after a mountain of confusion. Winning the chariot race had been overshadowed by my claiming. Thunder had been rumbling ever since the moment that the hologram faded from above my head. I sat down on my sleeping bag wearily. The chariot race had worn me out, and I couldn't wait to get some sleep. Other people had other ideas, though.

"Jackson…" Grant began.

I looked up at them. "I'm fine, guys, all right? No biggie, except that I just found out that Zeus might kill me any minute because of who my dad is."

"Can we talk?" Kaia asked. "You need to know what might happen now that Vehiclos is your father."

"What's there to know?" I asked tiredly. "Zeus hates my dad, so by default he hates me, and I'll probably be dead by tomorrow."

Kaia shook her head. "They might wait until the winter solstice to decide your fate."

I shot up. "Might?! Might wait?! Wow, borrowed time. I'm so excited."

"Look, um, we don't like this either," Grant said uncomfortably. "But now that you know that you're a son of Vehiclos, there's a couple of things that you need to know."

"Like what?" I snapped.

"Um, I think Danielle can take it from here." He stepped to the side as the black-haired resident female historian of the Hermes cabin stepped forward.

"Sit your ass down and stop boo-hooing about who your father is, because you're pretty lucky to get claimed and there's a bunch of kids in this cabin, myself included, who have waited a lot longer to get claimed and are extremely jealous of you right now, myself included again," Danielle said irritably.

I sat down. Danielle had a short and ferocious temper. Getting on her bad side was not a good idea. "Fine. What do I need to know?"

"A lot," Danielle said bluntly. "Vehiclos has a very colorful history, so get ready to listen."

Grant and Kaia sat down next to me as I settled in for Danielle's history lesson.

"Vehiclos started out as a powerful son of Hephaestus in ancient Greece, near the end of the Grecian empire. He was an incredibly good chariot driver. Actually, he was the greatest chariot driver in all of Greece and the surrounding lands. He could beat anyone in a race. Eventually, he challenged Apollo to a chariot race. Apollo accepted the challenge, knowing that his sun chariot was unbeatable. The race had Apollo in his sun chariot against Vehiclos, in a normal Grecian battle chariot. They would race from the western coast of Greece to the eastern coast. If Vehiclos won, he would be rewarded with godhood. If Apollo won, Vehiclos would have to tend to Apollo's sacred cows for eternity."

"Let me guess- Vehiclos lost, but tricked Apollo into giving him godhood anyway?" I asked.

"Actually, no. Vehiclos won the race."

"What?" Wait a minute. I had seen this before. I thought back to the weird dream that I'd had a couple of weeks ago- the dream about the mysterious chariot driver.

Danielle sighed. "You heard me. Just listen. Vehiclos won the race fair and square, and was awarded godhood as the Greek god of transportation. That wasn't such a problem back in ancient Greece, when the only methods of transportation were chariots and boats and horses and whatnot. He was viewed as a harmless minor god for a long time. But, as the modern technological revolution approached, Vehiclos' power expanded. In today's world, his domain is cars, planes, trains, boats, motorcycles- anything that transports mortals and mortal belongings. Now, this is a pretty big domain if you think about it, because it gives Vehiclos power in each of the Big Three's domains- the sky, the water, and the earth. Zeus isn't a complete idiot-"

Thunder crashed directly overhead. Danielle didn't even blink as she kept talking. "-so he realized that Vehiclos might be dangerous. I mean, he defeated one of the major Olympian gods in contest. That would be enough to set off alarm bells in even Zeus' inflated head."

A volley of thunder rolled through the valley, sounding like a hundred gigantic bowling balls falling off a shelf.

"Um, Danielle?" Grant interjected nervously. "I hate to interrupt, but Zeus is already pissed off enough right now. Can you, like, not insult him with every other sentence?" He looked up at the ceiling.

"Fine," Danielle said. "Go ahead and bow down to the Olympians. I'll do what I want to do." She faced me again. "Where was I? Oh, right. So until the technological revolution, the Olympians were on good terms with Vehiclos, except for Apollo, who flat-out hated Vehiclos because he was the first in centuries to deflate the massive ego that takes up most of Apollo's head. So, because of Apollo's hatred, children of Vehiclos and Apollo share a natural feud."

"Well, that explains why Lee Fletcher and I pretty much hate each other," I concluded.

Danielle nodded. "Correct. Now, I'm not finished, so keep listening. So the Olympians and Vehiclos had a perfectly sound relationship until 1903."

"What happened in 1903?" I asked.

"The airplane was invented. The Olympians accused Vehiclos of plotting against them by influencing the mortals. Zeus was especially miffed that Vehiclos was intruding on his domain. The Olympians basically got jealous of the power the Vehiclos now held among the mortals. They were even more jealous when the mortals started using cars and planes in war during World War One and World war Two, which meant that Vehiclos was now infringing on Ares' territory as well. The Olympians tried to arrest Vehiclos for treason on that basis, but their case fell through when they realized that they had no evidence that Vehiclos was directly influencing the mortals. Vehiclos was offended by the Olympians' attempt to get rid of him, and dropped off the map for a couple of decades. When he came back, the Olympians were astonished to find that he'd spent the time having kids with mortals. That, of course, set off a whole another round of chaos, which finally culminated in Zeus giving Vehiclos an ultimatum: "Turn your kids in, or I let Apollo loose on them."

"WHAT?!"

Danielle shrugged. "I know, right? Goes to show you how crazy the Olympians are."

An entire volley of thunder rolled through the valley this time, sounding like the world's largest jar of marbles had been overturned in a microphone.

Danielle ignored it as the rest of us flinched. When nothing else happened, Danielle kept talking. "As I was saying, Zeus gave Vehiclos the ultimatum, but Vehiclos managed to bargain an agreement: As long as he didn't contact his children, Zeus wouldn't allow Apollo near him. That lasted until the spring of 1986, when Apollo killed one of Vehiclos' sons.

"What?!"

"Don't interrupt me," Danielle said irritably. "So that set off another conflict. Vehiclos accused Apollo of senselessly murdering the unsuspecting demigod. Apollo, in turn, accused Vehiclos of having contacted that demigod frequently. The matters came to a head at the summer solstice that year, when Vehiclos and Apollo went to the Olympian court to duke it out in a legal battle judged by Zeus. Long story short, Apollo won the court battle. Vehiclos, of course, was enraged. He wanted justice for his dead son. He claimed that Zeus had been biased in favor of Apollo and demanded a retrial with a better judge. Zeus denied it, and that's when Vehiclos got really mad. He started saying that he was better than some of the Olympians on the Olympian council, and he demanded respect. He said that he had more power than Dionysus, and Zeus only had Dionysus on the Olympian council because he was his son, and then he started going on about a bunch of other things that the Olympians were doing wrong- all of which were true, by the way."

Another ferocious volley of thunder echoed through the camp.

"Danielle, _please!_" Kaia begged. "Zeus is already mad enough! You're not helping!"

Danielle raised an eyebrow. "Fine. As I was saying, Vehiclos raised a big stink about a bunch of things, and finally he just stormed out of Olympus. Now, this wasn't going to be taken lightly, so Zeus demanded that Vehiclos return for the winter solstice, where they would be a serious talk. But Vehiclos didn't show up at the winter solstice. Because of this, Zeus and the rest of the Olympians charged Vehiclos with insubordination and ordered him to return to Olympus to stand trial. He still didn't return. Later on, the Olympians declared that any new children that Vehiclos had would be treated as criminals until he came to trial. Vehiclos still didn't return. In fact, there's been no definite proof of his existence over the last couple decades until you came along." She looked meaningfully at me.

"So… I'm basically on the bad side of all the gods, and they might kill me?"

"I wouldn't rule out Zeus as wanting to kill you, either," Danielle added unhelpfully.

Thunder boomed again, and rain began to patter against the windows.

"Looks like Zeus is throwing a bit of a temper tantrum," Danielle mumbled.

The rain beat even harder against the side of the cabin as we fell into an uneasy silence.

Several tense minutes passed until, suddenly, a loud banging came from the door. Everyone in the cabin froze. After several more seconds without the knocking ceasing, Connor cautiously stepped forward and opened the door. Chiron stood on the front porch, rain-soaked and looking extremely weary.

"What-" Connor began, but Chiron held up a hand. The cabin fell silent.

"Mr. Crossley, Mr. Alvarez, and Ms. Reynolds, can you come with me?" Chiron asked wearily.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

I stood in the elevator of the Empire State building, along with Chiron, who was somehow in a wheelchair, and Hector and Danielle, as we traveled up to the six hundredth floor, where Olympus was located. The elevator music could not have been worse. Some joker had "If I Die Young" playing on repeat as we made the long journey upward.

Chiron had abruptly pulled Hector, Danielle, and me out of the Hermes cabin without more explanation then "Zeus is very impatient." Now, I stood in the elevator as the floors blinked up past the ninetieth floor. I still didn't know if I was going to survive the night.

"The one time you can count on the Olympians to be prompt is when they want to kill someone," Danielle muttered.

Chiron shot Danielle a look but said nothing. Danielle took that to mean that she could keep talking.

"Vehiclos has been a huge thorn in the side of the Olympians ever since the invention of the airplane. Sadly, I'm not surprised that they brought you in so quickly, Jackson. They've been looking for a way to get Vehiclos for a long time. Figures that they'd-"

"Ms. Reynolds," Chiron said firmly.

Danielle closed her mouth. The four of us watched the floors tick upwards.

Several minutes later, the elevator came to a stop with a _ding_. The doors opened, and despite my nerves, my jaw dropped. Leading away from the elevator was a series of marble steps that led up to… something. It was huge. It looked like someone had taken an island out of the ocean and plunked it a mile above New York City and left it floating in midair. It would have looked majestic if I wasn't so terrified.

"Welcome to Olympus," Hector announced grimly. "The home of the gods."

We walked up the steps and through the marble gates at the entrance. All around us was a bustling city center. All manner of buildings lined the main avenue, and there were side roads leading who knew where. Nymphs strolled down the streets as street vendors hawked their goods to passerby. The whole place would have been spectacular to look at, if everybody hadn't been looking at us as we passed through. Several people stopped to stare and whisper as we went by.

"Nothing in the world travels faster than gossip," Hector said, after several more minutes of pointing and hushed whispers.

I snorted, but then Chiron motioned for us to be quiet. We had arrived at a massive set of doors at an equally large temple.

"What-?"

"The throne room of the gods," Chiron said quietly.

The doors slowly swung open.

"Do we go in?" I asked.

"Yes," Chiron said.

_No,_ I thought. _No, I don't want to face a bunch of immortal deities who are mad at me. No, I don't want to go in there and possibly get killed._

But all I said was "Okay."

"I have to wait for you out here," Chiron said. "I am not invited into this audience."

I nodded. Then, Danielle, and Hector, and I entered the throne room.

I would have thought that it was magnificent, if I wasn't so damn scared. Twelve towering figures throwing off auras of power were seated in thrones arranged in a circle around us. A bulky figure on the right was tossing an open switchblade back and forth in his hands. He noticed me looking and sneered at me. He spun his knife towards me.

I looked elsewhere.

In the center, there was a hearth with a small figure tending to it. Her back was to me. I noticed Dionysus, with his usual dissolute expression, seated off to the far right.

"So… this is him. The son of the traitor," a voice boomed. I turned to face the source of the voice, and saw the king of the gods for the first time. Zeus himself. He was taller than any of the other gods and had small sparks of lightning flickering around him and in his hair and beard. He radiated power and authority like nothing I had ever seen before.

"Vehiclos was very naïve to have another son," Zeus said. "He did not anticipate what we would do with him when we found him."

I couldn't help myself. I spoke. "What is that supposed to-"

_Thwack._ An arrow smacked into the ground at my feet and stuck there, stopping my question. I looked up, following the arrow to its source- a blond-haired man with sunglasses on and a bow in his hands, standing in front of his throne, and looking suspiciously like Lee Fletcher.

Apollo.

"You dare to speak out of turn, you insolent little-"

"**APOLLO,**" Zeus thundered.

Apollo cringed. "Yes, father?"

"I will do the talking. You will be quiet and listen."

"Yes, father," Apollo said quietly. He sank back into his throne.

Zeus faced me again and steepled his fingers. "Jackson Crossley. A son of Vehiclos, who did not know who his father was. That is believable, but the actions of some other individuals are highly suspicious. Mr. Alvarez, the Olympian court calls you forward."

Hector's face whitened. "_Me?!_"

Zeus sighed exasperatedly. "Yes, Mr. Alvarez. Why do you think you were brought along?"

"I- I- I don't know…?"

"You are suspected of collaborating with Vehiclos to engineer Mr. Crossley's skills to a higher level. The evidence against you is quite suspicious," Zeus said, leaning forward. "Why else would you pick Jackson to drive the chariot for the Hermes cabin, when there were some much better candidates?"

"What-that?! No! I mean, Jackson had the worst lap time of the group, but he also got the chariot to its highest individual speed and he showed great driving instincts compared to the rest of the group. I saw a diamond in the rough and thought that with some training, that he could blow away the competition. I just wanted to get no chores for a month. I didn't know he was a son of Vehiclos."

Off to the left of Zeus, a female god with gray eyes arched an eyebrow. "Are you telling the council the truth, Mr. Alvarez?"

That was Athena.

"Yes! Um- uh, well, I did, um, sort of, there was, um- um…" Hector stammered off into silence as the gray-eyed goddess fixed a hard look on him.

"Tell the truth. It will be much more beneficial than lying to us," she commanded.

"I had a very strong feeling. It was like a voice in my head telling me that picking Jackson would be the best possible outcome."

Athena looked at Zeus. "He's telling the truth now."

Zeus' beard flickered with lightning. "Very well. Mr. Alvarez, you are cleared of suspicion."

Hector audibly sighed with relief and stepped back.

Zeus' eyes moved to Danielle. "As for you, Ms. Reynolds, Athena will handle the questioning."

"Oh, really?" Danielle asked, looking at Athena with contempt.

"Yes," Athena said. "Ms. Reynolds, why did you see it fit to inform Jackson about his father's background?"

"Jackson didn't know anything about his father. I did him a service by telling him why you guys hate his father, and how that means that you hate him as well." Danielle replied.

Athena mulled over the answer before nodding. "We don't hate him or his father, Ms. Reynolds. But you are cleared of all suspicions as well."

Danielle snorted disgustedly at Athena and moved back.

Zeus looked at me. "However, Mr. Crossley, you are not cleared. We have some questions that we'd like for you to answer."

"Sure," I said nervously.

"Have you ever seen Vehiclos in your life before?" he asked.

"Um, not that I know of. I don't know what he looks like."

Zeus looked at Athena, who nodded. He looked back at me. "Very well. Have you ever received anything from him in your life?"

"Just these shoes," I said, pointing to my black Nikes.

Every eye in the throne room went to my feet.

"Take off the shoes," Zeus said. He held out a hand. Feeling foolish, I took off the sneakers, and they zoomed into his hand. Zeus turned them over in his hand. After several seconds, he handed them to Athena, who inspected them carefully. After several seconds, she whispered something and tossed them onto the ground. The shoes turned into the black Dodge Charger, raising some murmurs in the throne room.

Athena looked at me. "Were you aware of this function of the shoes?"

I nodded. "Yeah, the shoes came with a note explaining how to use them."

Athena waved her hand, and the car turned back into the pair of shoes, which flew back to my feet. "Interesting. It seems that Vehiclos has been more active than we would like to think."

Zeus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Indeed. Does anyone have any thoughts?"

There was silence in the throne room.

"Very well," Zeus said. "In that case, we will carry on with our prearranged plan." A lightning bolt appeared in his hand.

"Hold on. What prearranged plan?" I asked, eyeing the bolt in Zeus' hands. I didn't like the direction that things were taking suddenly.

"Vehiclos is simply too dangerous," Zeus said. "This shall serve as a warning to him." He raised the bolt.

"Wait!" Hector yelled. "You're just going to kill him?!"

"Stay out of this, Mr. Alvarez," Zeus rumbled.

"You're seriously going to just kill him because of his father?!" Danielle questioned incredulously.

"You too, Ms. Reynolds," Athena added.

The bolt started to glow in Zeus' hands. I couldn't believe it. I was going to be killed by the people who were supposed to be protecting me. I had left my normal mortal life just to be killed a month later? What had I gotten myself into? I looked behind me desperately. Hector looked horrified beyond belief. Danielle looked enraged and disgusted at the same time. They were both powerless to stop me. I looked back at Zeus. His bolt was glowing brightly now. I started to back up. He brought it back to throw it and-

"STOP."

A firm, angry voice resounded throughout the throne room. There was a gasp from the rest of the Olympians. Zeus, surprised, lowered his bolt and looked in the direction of the voice. I looked, too. A figure stood in the doorway. He was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and a baseball cap that said "Detroit Motors Corp." on it. He looked absolutely furious.

Zeus' face went from surprised to angry in an instant. "YOU?! You dare to-"

The newcomer held up a hand. "Save it. I don't want to hear any of it. Do not kill the boy, or you will regret it."

"Why should I listen to you?" Zeus asked dangerously. The air around him started to crackle with electricity.

"You don't know the power that I have now," the stranger snarled. "Every day, I hold more and more power in the world of mortals, and every day, it gives me more strength. If you kill that boy, you will regret it tremendously."

Zeus paled by a very slight degree. "You would not be so foolish as to take on the king of the gods!" he declared, standing up.

The stranger smirked. "It's not foolishness." He stretched, cracked his knuckles, and suddenly, he grew to a tremendous height- as tall as Zeus. Out of the pocket of his sweatshirt, he produced a large, wicked-looking wrench that hummed with power. "It's love. For my son. I'm going to protect him. If you so much as touch him, all of you will feel a piece of my wrath."

Zeus looked thunderous. He and the stranger stared tensely at each other. The stranger didn't blink. Finally, Zeus raised his bolt, a look of finality on his face. "You have made a fatal decision. This bolt will send you straight to Tartarus."

"Do it," the stranger said. "Do it. Kill me. Watch what happens to the mortals, and in turn, what happens to you."

Zeus paused. That was all that the stranger needed to press his advantage.

"Kill me, and the mortals lose their _drive_. Their drive is what powers western civilization. Without the power of the flame behind you, you will be weakened tremendously."

The throne room was deathly silent as Zeus and the stranger, who was obviously a god, held a furious staredown. Finally, Athena spoke, breaking the silence.

"He is right, you know," she said grudgingly. "It would be a very good idea to rescind the order to kill the boy."

Zeus, scowling ferociously, pocketed his bolt. After a long pause, he declared, "The boy shall live," through gritted teeth.

Relief like never before flooded through me. But some others weren't so enthusiastic.

Apollo jumped up. "WHAT?!" he screamed, livid. "You cannot let this- this traitor go free!" He turned to face the stranger. "And you-""

"Stuff it, Apollo," the unknown god said. "I can't believe any of you. I never thought that the Olympians would stoop this low. What you're doing is as bad as the Titans," the stranger said. He faced Zeus again. "Call off the charges on me."

Zeus' eyes sparked ferociously. "That is too much. You have yet to serve the hearing in the Olympian court."

The stranger shrugged. "Have it your way, then. Don't touch my son. That's all I ask. So long." Then, before anyone could react, he disappeared in a swirl of mist.

There was a long silence in the throne room, which was finally broken by Hephaestus. "He- he- he came back," he said in a quavering voice.

Zeus sat down on his throne, still scowling fiercely. "I will honor his wishes. The boy lives." He turned to face me. "However, swear on the River Styx that you will not tell anyone about what just happened."

I blinked. "Um…"

The bolt reappeared in his hands. "SWEAR IT!" he boomed.

"I swear on the River Styx that I will not tell anyone about what just happened," I said hurriedly.

The bolt disappeared from Zeus' hands. "Very well," he said smoothly. "I hope that no one will dispute my decision." He glared at Apollo, who was going purple in the face and sputtering, but saying nothing. Finally, Apollo vanished in a flash of golden light. The throne room was briefly silent.

"Zeus." Athena stood up. "May I remind you that this was your idea?"

Zeus roared with rage and disappeared in a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder.

"Well, that was… unexpected."

The new speaker was a tall figure sitting on the throne to the right of Zeus' throne. He stood up. "I see no need to continue the emergency meeting, now that the subject of dispute has been resolved. If you'll excuse me, I have to return to the Underworld." He vanished into his own shadow. Belatedly, I realized that Hades had just left the building.

As the rest of us stood in the suddenly less crowded throne room, Danielle spoke up.

"Seriously?" she said. Everyone in the throne room looked at her.

"Seriously?" she repeated. "You guys were about to kill a fourteen-year-old kid just to send a message to his father?" She threw up her hands. "I am finished with the Olympians. Completely fucking finished. I'm sending my resume to the Titans." She stalked towards the door.

"Danielle, wait." Athena moved forward.

Danielle stopped at the doors. "What?" she asked viciously.

Athena said nothing, but then a floating hologram appeared above Danielle's head. It was a grey owl. Danielle looked up and her mouth fell open as an expression of wonder spread across her face. But after several seconds, the wonder was wiped off her face, and she faced Athena again with even more anger. "Where was this five years ago?!" she demanded.

Athena's face fell. "I was not comfortable with-"

"-A child with black hair?! Am I right?" Danielle asked vehemently. "Fuck my black hair! I could have dyed it! Fuck you! Twenty-one years without a single word! My dad became a drunkard after you left! He got stabbed outside a bar when I was nine! I was put into American social care! Do you know how much of a hellhole that system is? And then I got to Camp Half-Blood, and I thought all my troubles were over! Well, wrong! I became an outcast again, because you couldn't claim me, because of my fucking black hair! Well, here!"

"Danielle, I didn't claim you at first because I-"

Danielle pulled a dagger out of her pants and slashed it through her hair, sending a large clump of it to the ground. She picked the clump off the ground and flung it at Athena before stomping out of the throne room, leaving me and Hector and a very heartbroken goddess, and eight other gods who were still processing what the heck was going on.

"-because I thought that you hated me," Athena finished, to the empty space where Danielle had been.

After a pause, Hector made his move. "I think I'm with Danielle. I'm finished with you guys. You've gone too far." He strode out of the throne room.

After several uneasy seconds, I went after them. As I went out the doors, I looked back at the Olympians. I really shouldn't have been pressing my luck. I was lucky to be alive. I shouldn't have been pissing these guys off. But I had to say something.

"You guys are assholes," I said bluntly. Then I left, before they could smite me.

Outside, Chiron was waiting with Hector, who had stayed behind. Chiron looked extremely relieved when he saw me come out. "Thank the gods that you survived, Mr. Crossley." He looked uneasily at the throne room. "Someone walked by me- if it was who I think it was-"

"It was," Hector nodded. "He's back."

Chiron paled. "This has not been the best of evenings. We should leave."

"Yes, let's go," I grumbled. "I need to get away from here."

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Over New York, a vicious thunderstorm raged as sheets of rain pounded the streets. Barely anyone was on the streets. Chiron, Hector, and I stood under the canopy over the entrance to the Empire State Building. We were waiting for the valet to bring our van back. Hector explained what had happened in the throne room. After he finished his explanation, we waited for our unusually late valet.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Hector said.

"What is the matter, Mr. Alvarez?" Chiron asked.

"Um, nothing. I'm just going to go get some coffee from that shop down the street. You know, to calm my nerves."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "I thought that coffee did the opposite of calming one's nerves."

Hector laughed nervously. "Um, well, you know, they do say different strokes for different folks."

Chiron nodded. "Go ahead. Just hurry. I would like to be back at camp as soon as possible."

"Thanks." Hector jogged off. I watched him jog down the street towards the Dunkin' Donuts two blocks down. Suddenly, with a furtive glance over his shoulder, Hector broke into a sprint.

"Wha- Chiron! I don't think Hector was going to get coffee!"

"What?" Chiron looked over at Hector's swiftly moving form. "_Di immortales!_" he cursed. He started to get out of his wheelchair, but then stopped abruptly as Hector turned down a side street and disappeared.

"Chiron? What… Is he… what… Gone?"

Chiron's face was heavy. "Yes. One more lost to the side of the Titans. That makes two this night."

As we looked down the rain-soaked street at where Hector had disappeared, a thought occurred to me. Why was I still here? I had just had an attempt on my life by the people who were supposed to be on my side.

"Chiron."

"Yes?"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't leave right now. Why shouldn't I make it three lost tonight?"

Chiron looked as if someone had stabbed him directly in the heart. "Mr. Crossley?"

"You heard me. Hector told you what happened. Why should I stick with this side? The Titans wouldn't do what the Olympians just tried to do."

Chiron didn't say anything for a minute. The rain continued to fall. Several flashes of lightning lit up the sky. Just as I thought that he wasn't going to say anything, he spoke.

"Jackson, do you care for the mortals?"

I looked up and down the street. There were mortals all around. One was driving a Toyota Prius up to the curb. There was another hunkered under an umbrella on their cell phone. Several more were conversing nearby about the stock market.

"Yes," I said.

"Why?"

"Umm… They're creative. And smart. And diverse. And a lot of them are smarter than the Olympians. I mean, they do a lot of things wrong. But I like them. I used to be one. I still kind of think I am one." It didn't feel right to be talking about mortals like they were some species below me.

Chiron nodded. "The difference between the Olympians and the Titans is that the Titans hold no sympathy for the mortals whatsoever. The Titans plan on wiping out most of the human race and enslaving the survivors. Tell me, how is that, as the Titans call it, a golden age?"

"Um, it isn't."

"That is my argument in favor of the Olympians. Have I convinced you, or do you still wish to leave our side? If so, I cannot stop you."

I looked down at my shoes. Chiron had a point.

After a minute, I knew what I should do. "I'm staying. But only for the mortals. The Olympians are too messed up. I'm in this for the mortals."

Chiron looked extremely satisfied. "I thank the gods for your careful decision, Mr. Crossley. You are not the first to question the Olympians for their motives, or, I hope, the last."

We stood in silence until the valet pulled up to the curb with our van.

"Finally," Chiron said. "Let's return to camp. This has been an inauspicious night."

As Chiron and I got into the van, I realized that I still didn't know who had saved me from getting killed.

"Chiron?"

"Yes?" Chiron asked, starting the engine.

"Who was that guy? The one who you and Hector recognized?"

Chiron pulled out onto the road. "You don't know who that was?"

I shrugged. "Beats me."

We stopped at a traffic light. "Mr. Crossley," Chiron began, his face looking ghostly in the red glow of the stoplight, "That was your father, Vehiclos."

**A/N: So there it is. Chapter eight! I hope that was enough action to speed up the story. Please review and offer constructive criticism! I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: WARNING! This chapter contains mentions of post-traumatic stress disorder and triggers!**

I expected everyone in the Hermes cabin to be asleep when I got back. What I didn't expect was to scare the living daylights out of the boy sleeping with his head directly in the path of my foot. Naturally, his scream woke everyone else up, leading to a cacophony of overlapping voices.

"What happened?"

"Ow."

"You all right, James?"

"What the hell was that?"

"Wait- Jackson?!"

"Jackson?"

"JACKSON'S BACK!"

The campers congratulated me for a minute before they noticed I wasn't speaking. Gradually, everyone quieted down and waited for me to talk. I sat down heavily on my sleeping bag without saying anything.

And then Connor asked the question that I dreaded answering.

"Where's Hector and Danielle?"

I took a deep breath. "Gone."

"Dead?" Connor asked, horrified.

I shook my head. "No. Worse. They went… they went to the Titans."

Shocked silence greeted my words.

"Are you sure?" someone asked.

I nodded. "They... it… I don't want to talk about it."

I got down onto my sleeping bag, signaling the end of the discussion. Gradually, everyone crawled back into bed, except for Grant and Kaia, who came over and sat down next to me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Grant asked.

I shook my head. "I can't."

Kaia put her hand on my shoulder in a comforting gesture. "How bad was it?"

"Very," I muttered.

"Then why did you stay when Hector and Danielle left?" she queried. Then she smacked herself in the forehead. "Gods, that's a stupid question. I shouldn't be asking you that."

"No, it's fine. I, um…" I thought back to Chiron's lecture. The Olympians really were indifferent about mortals, but they didn't resent them. The Titans, on the other hand, cared little for mortals and thought that the world was better without them, at least from what I'd heard. I was picking the lesser of two evils.

"I found my reasons to stay," I said finally.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Breakfast was an interesting event. The absence of three demigods was noticed, even in the crowded Hermes cabin. Most of the campers were giving me strange looks as I ate, except for the Apollo cabin. They were giving me looks of loathing, especially Lee Fletcher, who looked flat-out murderous.

"Look at them," Perry said bitterly around a mouthful of pancakes. "They're staring at you like you're the second coming of Kronos. Idiots." He sipped his orange juice. "I should have left this place last night. Now I've missed my chance. I'm going to have to wait until the end of the summer to blow this popsicle stand. I'm leaving after this year." He pointed his fork at me. "You keep quiet about that, or I'll stick this fork through you."

I scooted away from him. "Right. Got it." I returned to my cereal. After a minute, I started looking around again. My eyes fell on Thalia, and I remembered something.

A while ago, she had offered me some training. I had declined, but now that Hector was gone, I needed a new trainer. I got up, went over to her table, and sat down.

She looked at me strangely. "Are you trying to join the 'I-shouldn't-be-alive-right-now' club?"

"No. I uh, you offered me training a while ago, right?"

"Yeah…"

"I'll take you up on the offer."

She shrugged. "Sure. Uh, meet me in the arena tomorrow morning at ten."

"Great. Thanks." I stood up to head back to the Hermes table.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

The next morning, I headed down to the arena for my ten o'clock training appointment with Thalia. She was already inside the arena, leaning against a pillar and staring off into space. I cautiously walked up to here. "Um, hey."

She startled out of her trance and looked at me intently for a second before relaxing. "Yup. Okay. Let's get started. Here, take this." She tossed a random spear at me, which I caught as Thalia took a sword off a rack of weapons. "I'm going to swing this sword at you, and I want you to do the first thing that comes to your mind."

She slashed the sword at my chest. My instincts kicked in, and I blocked the strike and moved left, waiting for her next move. She struck, and I parried, continuing to move left in a circle. She made one last swing, which I blocked again.

Thalia nodded appreciatively, lowering her sword. "You're doing pretty well. Let's up the ante." She pulled a mace canister out of her pocket.

I jumped back. "Whoa, what-"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Calm down. It's just my spear." She pressed down on the nozzle. The canister expanded into a spear, and she shifted into a defensive stance. "Take a stab at me."

I swung my spear at her, and she easily blocked it with the shaft of her spear, repelling the attack. I slashed again and she blocked it again with no difficulty. I went in for one last strike, and Thalia spun her spear as I swung mine, sending my weapon clattering out of my hands and onto the floor. She pointed the spear tip at my face and declared, "I win."

"Yeah, dead," I agreed, retrieving the practice spear. "What was that thing you did at the end?"

"That's what you're going to learn today," Thalia said. She picked up my spear and threw it to me. "Come at me again, except in slow motion. I'll show you how it's done."

An hour later, I sat at a bench at the edge of the arena with Thalia, drinking a bottle of red Gatorade and watching Percy and Annabeth spar. A group of kids from the Athena, Apollo, and Ares cabins were watching around him. I was pretty sure that I saw money change hands between the Apollo and Ares kids. As we watched the fight, I looked over at Thalia. "So why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"Why are you, like, helping me? I mean, out of everyone in the camp, why did you pick me?"

Thalia hesitated, watching Annabeth, who had just won the sparring match by slamming the butt of her dagger into Percy's head and nearly knocking him out. "You were the only new kid in camp."

"What do you mean?"

Thalia took a deep breath. "I had to find out about the Greek Gods the hard way. I was on the run for years. I didn't get to Camp Half-Blood for a long time. It was almost too late when we got there. There were a lot of monsters chasing us. I was nearly killed. I just don't want anyone to die like I almost did because they didn't know how to use a weapon. I can't count the number of times that I nearly died because I didn't know what to do. I resolved to make a difference. You're the only new kid in camp, so I figured this was a good place to start." She sighed. "The gods don't pay very much attention to their kids. In fact, I guess that you could say that they're kind of negligent… I mean, I barely ever saw my dad, Zeus. We're not going to get much help from the gods, so we have to help each other out."

I sat, digesting her story. "Okay. Yeah. That makes sense."

Thalia stood up abruptly. "Remember, meet me here at the same time tomorrow." She walked off without waiting for an answer.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

For a few days after the chaotic night on Olympus, I thought I was recovering okay. I mean, I couldn't sleep, and I was losing my appetite, and I found myself spacing out for long periods of time, but I felt in control. It didn't sound like the horror stories that I'd heard about post-traumatic stress disorder, stories of soldiers never quite returning from the battlefield. I hadn't seen anyone die. I hadn't even been hurt.

I was fine. I convinced myself of that, even though the dark bags under my eyes and my mostly-uneaten plates of food screamed otherwise.

Then the nightmares started.

I was plagued with dreams of Zeus towering over me with hundreds of lightning bolts blasting me repeatedly and causing extreme pain. There was only an expression of smugness on his face. Off to the left, Apollo was there, roaring with laughter, slapping his knees, happy tears running down his face, egging Zeus on and occasionally shooting me with an arrow. Enjoying it. Inhumanly _enjoying_ my pain. There were no physical scars because it was just a dream. But there was emotional pain. Heaps of it. I would scream until I was hoarse, but nobody would hear me because it was just a dream. Then, just as the pain got to be too much to bear, I would wake up curled up in a ball and soaked in sweat. I would lie in my sleeping bag, telling myself, _just a dream, just a dream, just a dream._ Not real life.

Why couldn't I believe that?

After the nightmares began, I spiraled. I became irritable, jumpy, and snappish. I was going to pieces. But I hid it. I excused my attitude as having trouble sleeping. When people asked why I tossed and turned and mumbled relentlessly in my sleep, I waved it off as nothing. When people threw looks of concern at my untouched plates, I would force myself to swallow mouthfuls of food without tasting it, and hide the rest in my napkin.

I was falling apart, and nobody noticed because I thought that I could handle it myself and convinced them of that.

It all came crashing down around me when I lost my temper at Thalia in training after she called me out for being slow to block her strikes. I hadn't slept or eaten a full meal in days, and last night I had been privy to the most realistic nightmare yet. As a result, my temper was microscopically short, and this combined with my lack of judgment and lack of ability to connect my brain to my mouth, also caused by sleep deprivation, led to me saying something horrible that I immediately regretted.

"You know, Thalia, why don't you just go jump back into the tree that you came from if you don't like how I'm doing?!"

Thalia stared at me with a usually expressionless, face that had been blown wide open with hurt. She blinked several times before dropping her spear on the ground with a clatter, turning, and leaving the arena.

"Damn it!" I whispered quietly. I had _not_ meant to say that. Oh, gods. I could see how badly I'd hurt her. I tried to pursue her out of the arena. I had to find her and apologize. I _had_ to apologize to Thalia.

Thalia.

I stopped.

Thalia. A daughter of Zeus.

A daughter of Zeus.

Zeus.

_Zeus._

I stumbled.

_Lightning._

Lightning and Apollo and screaming and pain and arrows and dying and-

I was on my knees now. My hands clutched at the ground.

It was just a dream, just a dream, just a dream with my eyes wide open. Get up. I had to get up.

Thunder and pain and fear and gleeful joy that wasn't my own-

And that's how Beckendorf found me, lying on the ground on the volleyball court with my eyes skyward, watching the lightning bolts that no one could see pound my body, my mouth open in a scream that could not escape.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

When the jagged white-hot streaks finally stopped pounding my vision and the tormenting laughter receded from my ears, I noticed that I was in a completely different place.

I swallowed and looked around. I was in a bed in a nondescript room that was mostly empty, except for the blonde guy in the corner who put the phrase "Four-eyes" to shame. He was slouched in a chair, reading a book, but as soon as I stirred, all of the eyes on his body swung at me.

To be honest, it scared me so hard I almost peed my pants. Almost. I didn't want to make a mess. The thousand-eye dude stood up and left the room, to my secret relief. A few moments later, he returned with Chiron, Perry, and Mr. D."

"-Can't tell if it's just an acute stress reaction or something more serious-" Perry was saying to Chiron as they walked in.

"Mr. Crossley," Chiron said, cutting Perry off. "How are you feeling?"

I shook my head, trying to clear the residual dark spots in my eyes from the lightning. "I think I'm going crazy."

Instead of looking nervous, Chiron simply nodded sadly. "That is an apt way to describe stress reactions."

Wow, way to inspire confidence.

He trotted over to my bed. "I know what happened to you in the throne room on Olympus, Jackson, and your acute stress reaction is understandable. This has happened to many hundreds of demigods before you."

"No. I can't have PTSD. That only happens to- to- to-"

"People who narrowly escaped death?" Perry asked.

I stopped.

"Face it, Jackson," Perry said. You're suffering from an acute stress reaction caused by an extremely traumatic event- an event that Chiron won't tell anyone about, by the way." He side-eyed the centaur but said nothing else.

Chiron sighed. "I cannot disclose what happened because of security reasons."

Perry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, just keep telling yourself that." He turned to me and continued. "You obviously haven't been yourself for the last week and a half, Jackson. I've noticed. You haven't been sleeping, you haven't been eating, and I bet you've been having nightmares."

"True," I conceded.

"What I'm saying, Jackson, is that you have to stop denying it. You're suffering from some sort of stress reaction, and denying it isn't going to help you."

I nodded. "Okay, fine. I'm having a stress reaction. I'm not cured. Now what?"

Perry took out his enchanted stethoscope. "Acceptance is the first step on the long road to recovery. Just let me run a quick checkup." He ran the stethoscope over several different points around my body- my forehead, my shoulders, and my torso. After several _hmmms_ and _I sees_ and other thoughtful sounds, Perry put away his stethoscope.

"Definitely a stress reaction," he said to Chiron.

Chiron looked off sadly into the distance. "Post-traumatic stress disorder is a very serious thing. Many other demigods have had their life ruined by it."

"Is there a cure?" I asked.

Perry spoke up. "There are treatments and some more experimental stuff. But there's no magic pill that you can take to cure this."

I flopped back into the bed. "Great. So now I'm going to be a raving lunatic for the rest of my life?"

"Don't be so quick to give up, Jackson," Perry said.

I looked up. "Why?"

"You're thinking of post-traumatic stress syndrome, which is what you see on the news all the time. But considering that whatever you went through was over quickly, and no one was killed-" He side-eyed Chiron again- "-I can confidently say that you are probably just having a normal stress reaction, also known as acute stress disorder."

"What's the difference?"

"With a normal stress reaction, the symptoms usually disappear after a couple of weeks."

Relief flooded through me at that news. "And my nightmares?"

Perry's face clouded. "That's harder to predict. Demigod dreams are tricky. They could go away in a couple of weeks… or months… or years."

I sank back down. "Wonderful."

"Try to get some sleep. You need it," Perry said. "I also noticed that you're suffering from sleep deprivation." He patted me on the shoulder. "Stress reactions are a serious thing, but it isn't a one-way ticket to an asylum, either. Try to stay cheerful." He left the room.

Mr. D left seconds later, leaving me, Chiron, and the eyes guy in the room. Chiron cast me a pitying look. "Do try to get some sleep, Mr. Crossley. You need it."

Then he left as well, leaving me alone in the room with Eyes Dude.

I looked away from him, mainly because all of the eyes on his body were trained on me, which was highly uncomfortable. I slumped lower under the blanket. I yawned and blinked. I really was tired. I just had to get to sleep. But I couldn't, not with the dreams that awaited me.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Or maybe I could sleep. For the first time in a week, my dreams didn't cause me to wake up curled in a ball and shivering.

I was in the dining pavilion at dinner as the campers made their offerings to the gods, and Perry was scraping a portion of his meal into the campfire.

"To hell with it," he growled suddenly, and dropped literally the entire contents of his plate into the fire. "Dad, can you help Jackson?" he muttered.

My dream shifted again, as I felt a tug pulling me to somewhere far away. Now I was in an office, looking at a guy with a beard and a doctor's coat relaxing in a comfy chair and reading a thick medical tome. "How noble of you, my son," he murmured. "Even as your loyalties waver, you still try to help a fellow half-blood in need." He tapped his chin. "I knew that it was worth it to escape Zeus' clutches, if only for a moment, to father you." He turned to face me. "Let us see what I can do for you, Mr. Crossley."

"Wha- how can you see me?" I asked, stepping back. "This is a dream!"

The man looked amused. "Of course it is, Mr. Crossley. And what am I?"

"I- I don't know," I admitted.

"Oh, right. I apologize. Allow me to introduce myself. Asclepius, son of Apollo and god of healing. I am also Perry's father."

"Right." I nodded. "So, um, why am I here?"

Asclepius crossed his fingers. "My son has asked me to help you with your acute stress disorder problem, and the dreams that Zeus has been sending."

"You can help me?" I asked, relief flooding through me.

Asclepius nodded seriously. "I can. Now, normal mortal physicians, bless their kindred souls, haven't quite mastered the art of mind healing. As a result, the road to recovery is usually long, complicated, difficult, and some people never quite make it."

"Not to insult you in any way, sir, but you are really not inspiring confidence in me right now," I said quietly.

Asclepius threw his head back and laughed. "You're right! But, I am a god of healing. I can help you. If I have the right medicine, you'll be cured in a jiffy."

He stood up and approached me. "Let's see what we have here." He waved his hands around me, making thoughtful sounds. "It appears that Perry has been putting my gifts to good use. He's helped you out before."

"Yeah, I never got around to thanking him for his help."

Asclepius shook his head. "A good healer never accepts thanks for his work." He continued to examine me. "I see that you used to have asthma."

"I kind of outgrew it."

He nodded. "Yes, I can see that. Hmmm… Ah." His eyes went downwards. "A nicely healed break of the ankle. How did you break it?"

"Go-karting accident," I replied.

"Mmm-hmm. Nothing to worry about there. Okay, moving on."

He sat up and looked me in the eyes. "Now for your real problem. Stay still and look into my eyes." He stared into my eyes, analyzing what was within. After a minute, he sat back and gazed off into the distance. I stood there, unsure of what to say until Asclepius rose out of his chair and went over to a large oak cabinet in the corner.

"I have just the thing for you," he announced, pulling a vial the size of my index finger out the cabinet and holding it out to me. "This is a potion brewed from a mixture of fresh-picked daisies from Elysium that were crushed and simmered before being mixed with crushed bark from a eucalyptus tree and water, as well as one milliliter of diluted water from the River Lethe and fresh mango juice. The mango juice is to improve the taste."

I took the vial carefully. "Will this help me?"

"Most definitely. I used this to help warriors from ancient Greece who never quite returned from the battlefield. But," Here, his face grew serious. "This medicine is not a cure-all. Some of the other things that you have been suffering from will have to be dealt with by you and you alone. In fact-" Suddenly, the room flickered.

Asclepius looked toward the door and frowned. "Zeus' security measures have kicked in." He waved his hand at the door, and the lock clicked. "You have to leave now, before-"

"Asclepius? Are you treating a patient in there? Does he have insurance?" A female voice sounded from outside the door.

Asclepius' face whitened. "She's here! Go, child. Her wrath will be mighty if she catches me treating a patient."

The lady outside the door spoke again. "I can hear you talking to someone in there! They had better be sanitized!" The doorknob jiggled.

Asclepius waved his hands at me. The room started to fade. "Go!" he whispered anxiously.

"Wait! How do I take this?" I asked, holding up the vial.

"Are you giving a patient _medicine_, Asclepius?" the voice asked. "I'm coming in!" There was a crash, and the door bulged inwards. A golden snake slithered under the door.

Asclepius snatched a letter opener off his desk and drove it into the snake, which retreated, hissing viciously. "It refills magically! The vial is one dose! Take one dose before going to bed and one dose when you wake up! Take it indefinitely!" he yelled.

The room around me went blurry, and the door shattered inward as Asclepius backed up to the far wall, wielding a vase. I got a brief glimpse of someone marching into the room, yelling about Medicare. As my vision faded to black, Asclepius yelled one last thing at me. "Say hello to Perry for me!"

Then I was jerked out of my dream and into the room in Camp Half-Blood. I blinked. Eyes Dude was fast asleep, but I noticed one eye on his forehead that was awake and watching me. I shifted into a sitting position and looked around. As I reoriented myself, I realized that that had been the best sleep I'd had since before Zeus tried to kill me. I could thank Asclepius for that.

I noticed something in my shorts pocket that hadn't been there when I went to sleep. I pulled it out and realized that it was Asclepius' medicine for my PTSD. I slipped it back into my shorts pocket and pulled the covers back up as a fresh wave of fatigue came over me. I was asleep in minutes.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

My eyes opened and were greeted by the sight of Grant and Kaia sitting next to the bed. Eyes Dude was nowhere to be seen.

"Jackson," Grant said with a tired smile. "You're awake."

"Yeah. What time is it?"

"It's ten-thirty at night. How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

Grant scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, um, we heard about your, um-"

"My stress reaction?"

"Yeah, that. Um, how are you feeling?"

"Fine. Um, thanks for staying up with me."

Kaia shrugged. "That's what friends do."

I pushed the sheets off. "So, want to make it official? Friends?" I held out my hand.

Kaia and Grant put their hands out with no hesitation. "Friends."

The three of us shook hands. The official declaration of friendship felt gratifying, even though it had been sort of unspoken for a month now.

"You want to head back down to the Hermes cabin? Chiron said that you can leave now," Kaia said.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, stood up, and stretched. "Yeah, let's go."

In the Hermes cabin, all three of us went straight to our respective beds. It was way too late to do anything except, well, sleep. I settled into my sleeping bag and brought out the medicine. Asclepius had said to take it before I went to sleep. I uncapped the vial and tipped it into my mouth. It tasted better than I expected, and I felt a calming sense wash through me as I drank. I put the empty vial down and recapped it. After a moment, it began to glow softly as the container was refilled.

I slid the vial under my sleeping bag and burrowed down deeper into the sleeping bag. As I drifted off, I prayed to Morpheus that the medicine would work.

Long story short: It worked.

I woke up the next morning, and the first thing that I registered was that I was still in a normal sleeping position, and not squeezed into a ball and mumbling with fear.

As I laid in my sleeping bag, savoring the feel of a peaceful sleep for the first time in weeks, I felt a massive burden lifting off my shoulders. I could live again. And then I remembered something else. The second line of my prophecy.

_And face fear, to which he must not succumb._

I was facing fear- my stress reaction- and I wasn't succumbing to it. At least, not yet. The second line of the prophecy was coming true.

There were still some panic attacks. Medicine couldn't cure everything. But I was no longer suffering terrible dreams and debilitating flashbacks, and I had an appetite again. The dark circles under my eyes gradually vanished. I apologized to Thalia. My summer slowly returned to normal again, if normal was even possible for someone who was the child of a supposedly nonexistent pagan god. I fell into a routine filled with training and learning about the Greek myths.

If someone had told me at the start of the summer that I would be learning how to kill mythical monsters and controlling strange powers by the end of the summer, I would have asked them what drug they were on. But now, not so much.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Chiron had set my lessons up with another kid named Michael Yew, who had a lot more determination than Lee Fletcher. But after six lessons and one accidentally skewered arm, Michael told me that I didn't have to show up anymore. So here I was, a week before the end of the camp, skipping archery class again by relaxing on a canoe in the middle of the lake with Grant and Kaia. We'd cast out some fishing lines, but nothing was biting except for some mosquitoes.

"So, do you guys have any plans after summer?" Kaia asked, cracking open a can of Coke.

Grant shrugged. "Not really. I'm staying year-round, as usual."

"Probably nothing much." I sighed. "I still don't know whether I'm going to stay at camp or go home. On one hand, it'll be safer for me to stay here. But on the other hand, I have a life in the mortal world as well. I need to go back to Massachusetts, even if it's only for a little while."

"I know that feeling," Kaia said. "I've got people in Portland who care enough to wonder where I go every summer. It's tough to have two lives."

"Yeah." After a pause, I stretched and checked my watch. "Well, I still have twenty minutes to kill before the end of my archery class. What should we do?"

"Can I suggest something?" A voice came from a canoe next to ours that hadn't been there a second ago. There was someone in the other canoe, relaxing with his feet up.

Kaia spat a mouthful of Coke over the side of the canoe and reached for her sword. "Who the heck are you?!" she gasped.

I sat up and almost fell out of the canoe. It was the same guy who had saved me from Zeus' thunderbolt that night.

"Um… dad?" I asked cautiously.

"Say WHAT?!" Grant yelped, jerking up.

"Careful, don't tip the boat over," Vehiclos warned.

Kaia still had her sword pointed at Vehiclos. "You be quiet!" she threatened to him. Then she faced me. "Jackson, did you just say that this was your… dad?" She looked back at Vehiclos. "…Vehiclos?"

He nodded. "Yup."

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" Grant asked suspiciously.

Kaia looked at me. "Jackson, how did you know him on sight? You said you'd never seen your dad before in your life."

Vehiclos looked at me quizzically. "Have you not told them how you met me?"

"I can't," I said.

"You can't? Of course you can, unless… Oh, surely not." He reached out a hand towards my head, and his face suddenly darkened. "Zeus made you swear on the River Styx."

I nodded.

Vehiclos sighed. "I see. That explains a few things. Anyway, I'm really sorry for scaring you guys, and-"

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Kaia asked irritably.

Vehiclos stretched and sat up in his canoe. "Allow me to explain."

"Please do!" she said, putting away her sword.

Vehiclos proceeded to explain what had happened on that night on Olympus. By the end of the story, Kaia and Grant looked shocked (Grant) and furious (Kaia).

"I can't believe that they would do that," Grant whispered disbelievingly. "They tried to kill you, Jackson. They tried to _kill_ you."

Kaia's response was a little more vocal. "Those motherfucking bastards!" she exploded. "I swear to god, if the Titans weren't so messed up, I'd jump off this canoe and swim all the way to San Francisco and join them!"

"We're in a lake," Grant pointed out.

"You're missing the point!" Kaia snapped.

Vehiclos held up his hands. "Look, it's terrible what they tried to do, but please hold your horses. I have to ask you a favor."

"What favor?" Grant asked, his voice guarded. When a god asked someone for a favor, it usually meant bad news.

"You have to swear on the River Styx not to tell anyone else about what you just heard."

"Why would we do that?" he asked.

"Jackson is under an oath not to tell anyone what happened. If word gets out of what happened on Olympus that night, Zeus will blame him for leaking the information, and he'll convince everyone that Jackson figured out how to bypass an oath on the River Styx, and then he'll use that as an excuse to execute him."

"Oh," Grant said.

"Do you swear on the River Styx not to tell anyone about Jackson's experience on Olympus?" Vehiclos asked.

"I swear on the River Styx," Kaia said firmly. Thunder boomed. Grant was quick to follow.

After their oath, I looked back at Vehiclos. "Is there a reason for you being here… Dad?" I asked.

"Yes. Do you have a cell phone?"

"No."

"Good. Don't get one. Are you aware of the dangers of demigods using cell phones?"

"Yeah."

"Great. That's what I wanted to hear. Now," he said, reaching into his pocket, "I have something." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small pocketknife, and handed it to me. "Here you go. Now, I hate to cut this short, but I'm still technically a fugitive, so I need to leave." He vanished in a swirl of mist, taking his canoe with him.

I stared at the spot where he'd just disappeared, and then the pocketknife in my hands.

"What's that?" Grant asked.

I shrugged. "A present, I guess." I started fiddling with the pocketknife and pulled out the main blade. To my surprise, the entire pocketknife elongated and changed color, extending into a gleaming bronze spear.

"WHOA!"

"A spear? He gave you a spear?" Kaia leaned over, looking at the weapon in my hands. "A spear that turns into a pocketknife?"

"Uh, yeah." I stared at the spear in my hands. "How do I close this thing?"

"Like a pocketknife?" Kaia offered.

"That's worth a shot." I gripped the spear at both ends and pushed in like I was folding a giant pocketknife, and it worked. The spear shrunk back into a pocketknife.

Kaia, Grant, and I looked at the pocketknife in my hands.

"That was weird," Grant said finally.

**A/N: There it is. This story is now fifty thousand words long! I never thought it would come this far. Unbelievable. Now, as usual, please review! Thanks. Air Force Muffin out.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: FOR ANYONE WHO HAS READ THIS STORY BEFORE THIS CHAPTER WAS POSTED: I have re-worked a bunch of major plot points in this story, so I highly recommend that you go back and re-read the story, especially Chapter Six, otherwise things will get confusing later on. Thank you. Please read and review. Enjoy the chapter.**

It was the last day at camp. I was on the top of Half-blood Hill with Grant and Kaia, watching the campers leaving for the year, as we waited for Kaia's family to pick her and me up.

Perry came sauntering up to us with a duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. "So long, guys," he said casually.

"See you next summer, Perry," Grant said.

Perry didn't reply to Grant and instead turned to me. "I'm glad to see that you made a full recovery, Jackson. I hope that you'll stop knocking yourself out."

"Yeah, I'll try," I replied.

We stood in an awkward silence for several seconds. Perry was looking me directly in the eyes, almost daring me to say something. _Go on, stop me from leaving Camp Half-blood forever,_ he seemed to say. _Let's see if you're loyal to the Olympians._

"Yeah, I'll see you guys next summer," Perry said to Grant and Kaia, still eyeing me.

Perry turned to leave, but at the last minute, I remembered Asclepius' last words to me.

"Hey, Perry," I called out.

Perry stopped and turned around, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"Asclepius told me to say hi to you."

"Dad says hi, huh?" A brilliant smile blossomed over Perry's face. "Maybe someday I'll go say hi to him. Thanks, Jackson."

"Yup," I said.

When I didn't say anything else, Perry started slowly walking down Half-blood Hill. I watched him go without saying anything. At the bottom of the hill, he stopped and took a long look at the camp behind him. Finally, he turned around and started down the road, without looking back again.

Good luck with the Titans, Perry.

A couple of minutes later, I saw a white minivan coming over a hill in the other direction. Kaia saw it, too.

"Oh, here they come!" she said happily. "Grab your backpack, Jackson. Our ride's here. You'll get along great with my family." She skipped down to the car with Grant and me following.

As Kaia and I got into the car, we said our goodbyes to each other.

"I'll miss you guys," Grant said.

"Hey, I'll miss you too. Maybe I'll try to come down during my winter break or something," I offered.

Kaia embraced Grant in a hug. "I'll miss you, too. I'll try to come down for the solstice."

"Yeah," Grant said. "I'll see you guys."

"See you," Kaia and I said to him.

As I put my backpack into the back of the van, Chiron came down to see us off.

"Have a safe trip back, Miss Christensen," Chiron said warmly to Kaia. As she nodded, he turned to me. "And, Jackson… I know that this was not a very good summer for you. It might even be called traumatic."

"Don't remind me," I grumbled, thinking of Lee's insults and Zeus' threats and the cloud of uncertainty that the looming conflict brought.

"But, Mr. Crossley, I just want you to know that I am there for you if you need someone to talk to. And if you get in trouble, do not hesitate to call for help. We take care of our own at Camp Half-Blood," he said sincerely.

"Thanks. I'll remember that."

With that, Kaia and I got into the car. Waving to Grant, we pulled away and down the road. Slowly, the pine tree at the top of the hill receded into the distance until it was no longer visible.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Several hours later, the Ford minivan turned onto my street. The first thing I saw was Trey and Adam playing basketball in Trey's driveway. As we drove up, they stopped playing and looked at the car. As we pulled up to the curb, I opened the door and leaned out, waving. Adam was the first to recognize me. He came running down the driveway to the car.

"JACKSON!" he yelled, embracing me in a ferocious hug. After a second, he let go and stepped back. "Whoa, sorry."

"It's fine. You can hug me," I said.

"Good. I haven't seen you in two months." Then he mashed me in a hug again. I could see Kaia laughing silently behind Adam as she got out of the car.

Trey came up as Adam ended the hug. "Jackson!" he said. "You're back! I missed you." He slapped hands with me. "You're back!" he repeated, grinning stupidly.

"Yes, he's back, I think we've established that," Kaia remarked dryly, coming around the side of the car with my backpack.

Trey turned around. "And you are…?"

"Kaia Christensen," she replied holding out her hand. "Jackson and I met at the summer camp that we go to."

"Oh. Hi," Trey said, shaking her hand. He turned to me, wiggling his eyebrows. "A _girlfriend,_ Jackson? What exactly happened at that camp?"

"NO! Oh, for the gods- for god's sake, she- NO, she is not my girlfriend!" I spluttered, barely covering my slip in referencing the gods.

Trey didn't notice, as he was too busy ribbing me. "You _sure_?" he asked playfully.

"We're sure," Kaia said bluntly, without a hint of embarrassment.

"Okay, then," Trey said, winking at me. He turned back to Kaia. "So anyway, you from around here?"

"Portland," she replied.

"Oh. That's cool. Nice to meet you. I'm Trey. This is Adam..." Trey trailed off. He shifted his feet. "Um, so… You going to be here long?"

"Not at all," Kaia said, giving me my backpack. "I was just dropping Jackson off on my way home. See you next time, Jackson." She hugged me, and climbed into the minivan, closing the door behind her.

The minivan drove off down the street.

"She seems pretty cool," Adam remarked as he watched the car disappear.

"Yeah, she is," I agreed.

Trey turned to face me. "I am _not_ going to talk about the fact that she hugged you. So, how was summer camp?"

I fingered the pocketknife in my pocket and thought of everything from the last two months, from the wild midnight ride to nearly getting killed by the king of the gods to meeting my dad. From getting struck by lightning to getting into fights to winning chariot races.

But I said nothing about any of that. "It was cool. But I want to hear about you guys first." I threw my arms around Trey and Adam. "So, what happened while I was gone?"

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

"Two-and-two count now. Here's the pitch from McGowan… And Ortiz swings and fouls it back. Still two-and-two. McGowan's going to step off the mound and collect his thoughts. He's in a real jam now, with runners on first and third in the top of the seventh and the score tied. One bad pitch to Ortiz, and there goes the game."

I was lying on the front steps of my house in mid-September, listening to the Red Sox- Blue Jays baseball game on the radio. Life had been pretty normal for the most part since getting back from Camp Half-Blood, except for the freaky snake-legged lady that tried to kill me while I was walking out of a Burger King. I had a nice big scar on my arm from that incident. I hadn't had any really bad nightmares, either. Asclepius' medicine was working great. I hadn't told my mom about that. In fact, there was a lot that I hadn't told my mom: For example, nearly getting killed by Zeus. Or the fact that Apollo wanted me dead. Or that there was a war coming up. My mom didn't seem too fazed by what I did tell her. When I told her that Vehiclos was my dad, she just nodded and said, "He did like dirt racing when I met him."

"McGowan moves back onto the rubber, checks the runners, and-"

"Hey."

I took off my sunglasses, sat up, and saw someone who looked about twenty sitting next to me, with bleached-blond hair, blue eyes, a long scar running down his pale face, and a sword strapped to his side. I instinctively went for my pocketknife/spear, but he held up his hands.

"Whoa. Peace. I swear on the River Styx that I mean no harm to you right now."

I lowered my pocketknife. "Okay… then who are you?"

Scarface held out his hand. "Luke."

I pulled out my spear, this time for real, and aimed it at his chest. "Luke? As in Luke Castellan?"

Luke nodded. "Yes. And put that spear away. Didn't you hear my oath?"

"Yes, but-"

"You do know that an oath on the River Styx is unbreakable, right? You, of all people, should know that."

My grip on the spear tightened. "How- how do you know that I'm under an oath?"

A half-smile crossed Luke's lips. "The Titans know things. But that's not important. I came here to talk to you."

"Talk to me? What- what do you want?"

"Put away your spear, and then we can talk."

I weighed my options. The leader of the Titans was right here in front of me, and I was armed. All I had to do was stab him, and I would be a hero. But on the other hand, he was rumored to be the best swordsman in centuries, and he had a weapon. I wouldn't stand a chance against him in a fight. Plus, he had sworn on the River Styx that he meant no harm to me. I decided to hear him out and retracted my spear back into its pocketknife form.

"All right, we can talk, but you better make it quick."

"Thank you," Luke said. He reached over and switched off the radio. "I'll get right down to it. I want you to join us."

"Who's us?"

"The Titans. I want to recruit you into the Titan's army."

I blinked. "You… want me on your side?"

He nodded. "You've got potential, Jackson. And you have a grudge against the Olympians. That's the two things I look for in an ally. I know that Zeus tried to kill you. You were only saved by your father, who's been living under constant threat from the Olympians for twenty years."

"Yeah."

"And I bet you're tired of being shoved in the Hermes cabin with everyone else like unwanted junk?"

"Uh, a little, I guess, but I don't-"

"Does it feel like you're being cast out of their society?"

"Not really."

"Are you sure? Because if you look at Percy Jackson, he's got a whole cabin to himself, even though he's not supposed to be alive. You, on the other hand, also shouldn't be alive-"

"Thanks for the compliment," I muttered.

"-shouldn't be alive, but you've just been thrown into the Hermes cabin like a can of sardines."

"Look, I don't care about my living conditions. If I tried to get my own cabin, I think that Zeus would take it as a sign of rebellion and strike me down."

Luke had an _are-you-kidding-me_ look on his face. "Exactly!" he said emphatically. "Jackson, you should have ditched Camp Half-Blood a long time ago." He spread his arms. "You have so much more of a future with the Titans than with the Olympians. For one, we don't discriminate by who your parent is. And secondly, we don't try to kill you if it turns out that your parent is a wanted criminal-"

"My dad is not a criminal!" I cut in angrily.

Luke stopped. "Whoa. Whoa. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"I'm sorry, Luke, but I am going to have to politely ask you to get lost," I said quietly, pulling out my spear to punctuate my point.

Luke didn't look too concerned at the appearance of my weapon. "Sure. I'll leave. All I ask is that you think about my offer." He stood up.

"Luke," I said, stopping him.

He looked at me questioningly.

"_Show_ me that the Titans are better than the Olympians."

Luke stared at me in silence for several seconds. Finally, he nodded. "A good idea, Jackson. I'll try."

With that, he unholstered his sword and sliced it through the air. His swing opened up a dark portal in midair. He stepped through it without a single look back at me, and the portal disappeared after him, leaving me alone on the steps.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

After the encounter with Luke Castellan, I got through the next three months without any supernatural encounters at all. September, October, and the first half of December were all blissfully monster-free. The second half of December, however, was a completely different story.

December 15th was a freezing winter day. I was inside, in my kitchen, grappling with my English homework- chapter four of _Of Mice and Men_. Don't get me wrong, John Steinbeck was an okay writer, but the small print in the book was absolute murder to read. The words might as well have been printed in Chinese for all the good that they were doing. It would have been better if they had been printed in Greek. At least I could read that without a headache.

Greek… My thoughts drifted to my friends from Camp Half-Blood. Did they celebrate Christmas there? I looked up at my Christmas tree. Did demigods normally celebrate Christmas? Was it acceptable for someone who was technically part of a different religion to celebrate Christmas?

I looked at the Christmas tree. Would I get killed for being unfaithful to the Greek Gods if I still participated in Christmas? That sounded like all of the incentive that Zeus would need to kill me.

I shook my head. Christmas was a time of goodwill and peace and friendship. Surely everyone, even the gods, understood that.

Speaking of friendship… That gave me an idea.

"Hey, mom, are we doing anything this weekend?" I called out.

Her answer was, "No. Why?"

"Well, how does this sound? Can I go to Camp Half-Blood for the weekend?"

There was silence, and then my mom slowly walked into the kitchen, her face rapidly losing color.

I jumped up. "Mom? Are you okay?"

She forced an obviously fake smile onto her face. "No, everything's fine. Did you just say that… you want to go to Camp Half-Blood for the solstice?"

"The what? No, I said I want to go for the weekend."

"The… weekend?" She said it like it was a foreign concept to her.

"Yeah. Grant's going to be there. And Kaia said that she might go, too."

"Why… why do you want to go there?"

"Why not? It's Christmas. I want to see my friends at camp. I mean, it's a nice place to be. Just for the weekend. Please?"

At that moment, my mom's face went through a series of expressions for reasons that I wouldn't understand until a couple of years later. Initially, she looked horror-stricken and crestfallen. Then her face slowly morphed into grief. Then it shifted to something that looked like lingering sadness, and lastly, her features settled on something akin to grim defeat.

"Do you really want to go?" she asked finally.

"Yeah."

She nodded. "I guess you can go."

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

And that was how I found myself at the border to Camp Half-Blood the next morning with an overnight bag.

"Have fun, sweetie. I'll see you on Sunday morning. Try not to get killed," my mom said to me, before driving off.

I trudged up the snow-covered hill towards the pine tree that marked the border. As I passed the border, the camp opened up before me. A light dusting of snow covered the ground, and the Big House was ringed with Christmas lights. So they did celebrate the holidays around here.

As I came down into the valley, Chiron came onto the porch and trotted out to meet me.

"Hello, Mr. Crossley," he said in greeting. "This is a surprise. Is everything all right at home?"

"Hi, Chiron," I said in return. "Everything's fine. I'm just here for the weekend to see my friends." I nodded at the Christmas lights. "I see that the camp's getting into the festive spirit."

Chiron nodded. "Christmas may be a Christian holiday, but we like to honor its values- peace, goodwill among men, love, and joy."

"That's really nice, actually." I slung my bag over my shoulder. "Well, I'm going to head down to the cabin now." I left Chiron at the top of the valley and continued down to the Hermes cabin. The whole camp was quiet. A few kids were outside, and I saw Travis and Connor, but for the most part, the camp looked almost deserted. When I walked into the Hermes cabin, the first thing that I noticed was that the door opening was the loudest sound in the room. The only person in the room was Grant, lying on his bunk and tossing a Hacky Sack up and down.

"Hey," I said casually. "Am I late for the party?"

Grant looked up at me, and the ball landed on his forehead. He didn't seem to notice as he stood up, grinning. "Jackson!" He came over to me. "Long time no see!" He held up his fist.

I fist-bumped him. "Great to see you, man. I'm here for the weekend."

"So, what happened while I was gone?" I asked Grant, plopping down next to him on his bunk

He shrugged. "Not much- the usual random monster attacks and other things."

"You seen Kaia at all?"

"Not really. She said that she might come down during her winter break, though."

We lapsed into silence as Grant clasped his fingers behind his head and looked at the ceiling. Abruptly, he sat up.

"Wait, I just remembered this. Okay, so I heard this from Eileen from the Athena cabin, who heard it from someone in the Aphrodite cabin, who heard it from Beckendorf, who overheard Chiron saying this- Apparently, Percy Jackson got sent on a top-secret mission to find not one but _two_ half-bloods today."

I stared at him. "What?"

"New half-bloods. They're supposed to be here sometime about-"

A huge _FLOOOM!_ came from outside, like a gigantic object had been thrown into the lake.

Grant jumped off his bunk. "-Sometime about now. What do you want to bet that that's them?"

"Ten bucks and you're on," I replied, standing up. "Let's go see what just happened."

The sight outside was bizarre, to say the least. A Greyhound bus was washed up at the edge of the lake. As Grant and I came up, a large group of people dazedly made their way out of the bus. Grant squinted at them.

"That's a lot of people for one quest," he muttered.

We came up to the crowd, and I caught sight of Thalia at the fringe.

"What happened?" I asked, walking up to her.

"Oh, hey," Thalia said, turning around. "We found some new half-bloods, but we- we-" Her voice cracked slightly. "We lost Annabeth."

"What?! How?!"

"No, not dead," she added. "Captured. You know, by the enemy."

"Oh. That's… better?"

"Well, everything was going fine, until the Hunters of Artemis decided to show up." She glared at the group of around us.

"The Hunters of Artemis?" I looked around; noticing for the first time that most of the group was comprised of girls wearing silver parkas. "Those are the ones who swear off men, right?"

She nodded. "Yup. So you better stay away, or they might castrate you."

One of the girls huffed at Thalia. "We do not have such archaic views as to mutilate men. We simply believe that we do not need them."

"Oh, and that's better?" Thalia asked.

The other girl turned on her. "Watch your tongue, girl," she said dangerously.

"Oh, am I supposed to be scared?" Thalia asked sarcastically.

"Whoa, ladies, break it up!" An overly cheerful voice cut through the crowd.

I turned around at the voice and came face-to-face with a blond-haired sunglass-wearing guy who was obviously a god. What tipped me off wasn't that he radiated heat and power. Nor was it the sunny glow that he gave off. No, it was because I had seen his face before, back on a disastrous night on Olympus, when he tried to get me killed.

Apollo.

"Well, let's-" Apollo stopped abruptly as he saw me for the first time. His lips curled into a sneer, and he seemed to grow slightly larger. I suddenly felt very small and extremely vulnerable as the subject of countless nightmares stood before me in real life. I shrank back from him, not caring how stupid I looked. After what felt like the longest ten seconds of my life, Apollo finally looked away.

"I'll be going now," he said, in a much less cheerful tone.

I silently thanked all of the gods that I could think of as the god of the sun turned away and climbed into the Greyhound bus. As he started it up, I turned back to Thalia, who was looking at me with slight concern.

"Apollo looked pretty pissed with you," she remarked.

"It's a long story," I muttered, looking at the ground. "He doesn't like my dad. Or me."

"Oh."

We stood awkwardly until Percy came up.

"Hey, we should get down to the Big House to talk to Chiron," he said to Thalia.

"Yeah," Thalia said in agreement. "Catch you later, Jackson." She turned and started in the direction of the Big House.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Later, back in the Hermes cabin, as I was playing a game of poker with Grant, the door opened, and Travis and Connor walked in with a kid that I didn't recognize.

"Hey, guys," Travis said. "This is Nico Di Angelo. He's new here." He gave Nico a gentle push forward. "Nico, this is your new cabin for now."

I lifted in my hand in greeting, as did Grant, and we returned to our game.

A couple of minutes later, Nico plopped down on Grant's bunk.

"Hi," he said to us.

"Hey," I replied.

"What're you playing?" he asked.

"Poker."

He brightened. "Really? Can you teach me?"

"Sure," Grant said. "Here, you can join in." He dealt Nico a hand.

As the Grant and I tried to explain to Nico the basic rules of poker, he peppered us with questions that were completely unrelated to the card game.

"So which gods are your parents?"

"Hermes," Grant answered.

"Vehiclos," I added.

"What powers do you have?"

Grant shrugged. "I guess… I'm really good at stealing things and tricking people."

"I can talk to cars."

"That's so cool! When do I find out who my dad is?"

"Uh, when you get claimed."

"Claimed? What's that?"

"Claiming is when your godly parent claims you as their child," Grant explained.

"When do I get claimed?" Nico asked excitedly.

I shrugged, not wanting to burst his bubble. "It depends."

"Okay. And what about…?"

It was pretty much like that for most of the afternoon, with Nico's incessant curiosity never stopping. He was really sweet, though. He seemed really excited to be a demigod. After Nico's arrival, things were uneventful until the game of Capture the Flag the next night.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Campers versus Hunters. I was on defense. I didn't really have high hopes for winning this game. We had a slight advantage in numbers over the Hunters, but the Hunters were girls who trained with Artemis herself. They knew what they were doing. I, on the other hand, did not.

The horn blew, signaling the start of the game. Thalia vanished into the woods, brandishing her shield as she led a couple of other campers into the foliage. Grant and the two scouts were next to leave, heading towards the creek, leaving me, Percy, Beckendorf, Nico, and the Stolls arrayed around the flag. The atmosphere became deathly silent over the next couple of minutes. Nobody said anything as we watched the woods, getting glimpses of the action playing out. Suddenly, Percy stiffened, squinting into the woods. He picked up his sword and looked at Beckendorf.

"Can you guys hold the flag?" he asked.

"Yeah, no problem," Beckendorf replied.

Without hesitation, Percy dashed into the woods.

"What's that about?" I asked.

Beckendorf shrugged. "No idea. I think he saw something."

At that moment, off to the left, I noticed a branch move slightly. I was about to brush it off as an animal or something, until I saw a flash of silver.

I raised my spear. 'Hey! On the left-"

Then a bunch of things happened all at once. Two arrows came flying out of the bushes, lodging in Connor's helmet and knocking him down. Another arrow came from the other side of the clearing, landing at Travis' feet and exploding with an ear-splitting screech and a blast of light. The Hunters had flash-bang arrows. Great. I charged the area where the two arrows had come from, ready for battle. But it was empty.

From behind me, Beckendorf shouted "Look out!"

His warning came to late. Before I could even move an inch, I got body-slammed into the ground from behind by what felt like a hundred and twenty pounds of pure muscle. The impact felt like it came from an NFL linebacker.

I rolled over just in time to see another Hunter streak through the clearing like a gazelle and snatch the flag from directly in front of Beckendorf, while knocking him down for good measure. That meant that the only kid that was giving chase was… Nico.

The kid had barely been here for a full day. Why was he even in the game? It didn't matter. We were going to lose.

I shakily got to my feet and ran after the Hunter, with Beckendorf right behind me. But the distance was too great to close in a short amount of time. I tried throwing my spear, but it sailed wide left and stuck harmlessly in the ground. The Hunter jumped across the creek, intentionally slamming into Percy- what was _he_ doing there?- and landing on the other side.

We'd lost.

Chiron came up behind us, carrying the Stolls on his back. "The Hunters win," he proclaimed in an emotionless voice. "For the fifty-sixth time," he added dejectedly under his breath.

I turned to Beckendorf. "Man, that was-"

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODS WERE YOU THINKING, PERCY JACKSON?"

I winced as Thalia's thunderous voice echoed through the clearing. Percy Jackson was in for it.

But Percy wasn't going to take it lying down. He shoved the flag into Thalia's face. "I had the flag!" he yelled. "I saw the chance, and I took it!"

"I WAS ABOUT TO GET IT!" Thalia snapped. "WE WERE GOING TO WIN IF YOU HADN'T STUCK YOUR GLORY-SEEKING BUTT IN!"

Percy growled. "You were covered in defenders! I was trying to help!"

"I DIDN'T NEED HELP, DAMMIT!" Thalia pushed Percy, but her push somehow sent him flying ten feet backwards into the creek.

Thalia gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do-"

A huge wave crashed into her mid-sentence, knocking her over.

"Yeah," Percy said angrily, his arms raised, as he stood in the middle of the creek. "I didn't mean that either."

"Stop!" Chiron ordered, stepping forward.

But Thalia stood up, raising her spear. "You wanna go, Kelp Head?"

"Bring it, Pinecone Face," Percy snarled, raising his sword.

Thalia pointed her spear straight up. Everything was silent for a few seconds, before I noticed a smell like right before a thunderstorm- ozone?

A bolt of lightning flew down from the sky, smashing Percy directly in the top of his head. He collapsed like a ton of bricks.

I gulped, steadying myself. That blast of lightning brought back some bad memories.

Percy slowly but steadily stood up, clenching his fists, and the entire creek, hundreds of gallons of water, rose up around him. I found myself unconsciously stepping back as the wall of water streamed out of the creek, towering behind Percy as he advanced on Thalia, his face tight with rage. Then, unexpectedly, he stopped, letting the water tumble back into the creek, as he stared at something behind us. Thalia turned to look, too, and a look of shock crossed her face. I turned around and almost peed my pants. A mummified figure was slowly shuffling towards us, green mist curling around her. The Oracle.

I stumbled away from the Oracle as she approached our group, the mist around her thickening as tendrils of the green fog reached out towards us. Suddenly, her voice hissed out over the clearing.

_I am the spirit of Delphi, the speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo._

She turned slowly, and for one horrible second, I thought she was going to look at me. But her eyes moved past me and landed on a Hunter next to me.

_Approach, seeker, and ask._

The Hunter spoke in a voice tinged with fear. "How do I help my Goddess?"

The Oracle was silent for a moment as the green mist continued to thicken. Suddenly, the mist all around us hissed, like a thousand Oracles speaking in unison.

_Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

_Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

_The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand._

The green mist retreated into the Oracle's mouth, and she sat down on a nearby rock, and went completely still.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

The Hermes cabin was a lot less crowded in the winter, which meant that I could grab any bunk that I wanted. Currently, I was sitting on the bunk above Grant and trying to fall back asleep. It must have been six in the morning or something.

"Hey, Jackson?" Grant said from below.

I started. "Grant? You're awake?"

"Yeah. Couldn't sleep."

"Same."

We fell silent. After a minute, Grant spoke up. "So what did you think of that prophecy?"

"Really creepy, I guess. That's the first time I've ever seen a real-live mummy."

"Don't you mean a real-dead mummy?"

"Damn it, Grant, I'm trying to be serious here."

I heard muffled laughter coming from Grant. I shook my head. "Seriously, I-" I trailed off as a loud knock echoed through the cabin. It came again, and then again, harder.

I jumped off my bunk. "What… What could anyone want at six in the freaking morning?"

Grant yawned. "It's actually closer to like, five A.M."

"Five-!" I threw open the door and was greeted by Thalia and one of the Hunters standing there. I squinted at them, suddenly very conscious of the fact that I was in nothing but an old pair of flannel pants. "What do you want?"

"Get your clothes on, Jackson. We'll explain outside," Thalia responded.

"What- sure, but what's going on?"

"I'll tell you in a second."

"Sure…" I closed the door and walked back to my bunk.

"Who was it?" Grant asked.

"Thalia and one of the Hunters."

"What do they want?"

I shrugged. "They just said that they want to talk to me." I pulled on a t-shirt, tugged on a fresh pair of jeans, and walked back out of the cabin. Thalia and the Hunter were waiting on the porch outside with backpacks.

"What's going on here?" I asked. "I want to get back to sleep, so this better be quick."

The hunter girl shook her head. "I do not like this idea," she said to Thalia.

"He's the best that we've got right now, Zoe," Thalia said. "He's a son of Vehiclos. We need all of the luck we can get on this journey, and having the son of the Greek god of transportation is going to be a big help."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, holding up my hands. "Hold up. What do you mean, I'm the best you've got? What journey? What's going on here?" But in the back of my mind, a sneaking suspicion was starting to form, about going west.

Thalia hefted her backpack over her shoulder. "Jackson, you're joining the quest to rescue Artemis."

**A/N: And there you are. Now, again, to anyone who has been following this story since before this new chapter was posted, PLEASE go back and re-read this, because I've reworked a bunch of plot points, and you might not know what's going on otherwise. As always, please review! Thank you. Air Force Muffin out.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: Here you are. Another chapter posted! Don't forget to review and tell me what you think about the story and what I need to work on. Every little bit of advice helps. Thanks. Enjoy the chapter. Also: To anyone who has read this story before I published chapter eleven, please go back and re-read the rest of the story, because there's a lot that I have re-written before this update.**

"What?" I blinked at Thalia. "What quest to rescue Artemis?"

"Lady Artemis is in danger," the Hunter on the right of Thalia said. I recognized her as the girl from Capture the Flag who'd knocked Beckendorf over. Zoe.

"What happened? Does this have anything to do with that prophecy?"

"Yes," Zoe said. "We have to go west and find her before the winter solstice."

"Hang on. How far west are we talking?"

"Um, San Francisco-" Thalia started to say, before I interrupted her.

"_San Francisco?! _I have school tomorrow! What's going on here?"

"Let me explain," Zoe said forcefully. "Lady Artemis has been kidnapped and she is in danger. You have been chosen to be part of this quest. To be selected for this quest is an unbelievable honor. A god has not been kidnapped in centuries. You would not even be part of this quest, but two of thy idiot cabinmates, those twin brothers, incapacitated my top hunter, who was supposed to be on this quest. And now we are stuck with you."

"Just give him a chance, will you?" Thalia asked tiredly. "He's better than he looks." She turned to me. "So, you are coming, right?" she asked, in a tone that was more of an order than a suggestion.

"Okay… uh, I guess I'll go. Sure. Let me get my stuff."

"Great. Meet us back out here in five minutes," Thalia said.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" I muttered under my breath, stepping back into the cabin as I shut the door.

"What'd they want?" Grant asked, looking up.

I picked up my backpack and started stuffing my things in it. "They want me to go on a quest."

He sat up. "Wait, really? An actual quest?"

"Yeah." As I searched for my socks, I noticed somebody missing from the cabin. "Hey, where's Nico?"

Grant got out of his bed and scanned the room. "That's weird. He was here last night."

I zipped up my bag. "Maybe he's in the bathroom."

"Probably. But you're serious about that quest?"

I pulled on my sneakers. "Yeah. I'm heading west to San Francisco."

Grant grinned. "Good luck, man. I hope you survive." He got off his bed and held out his arms. "Hug?"

"Definitely," I said, embracing him.

After hugging Grant, I walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind me. Thalia and Zoe were still on the porch. "Now what?" I asked.

"Let's get back to the Big House," Thalia suggested.

As we walked back, I lagged behind with Thalia while Zoe led the way. As we walked by the dining pavilion, a movement behind one of the bushes caught my eye. I stopped.

"Did you see that?" Thalia muttered.

"Yeah," I replied, watching the bush. I could just make out the edge of something concealed behind it.

Thalia peered into the darkness. "Who's there?" she called out. There was no reply.

"Let's see who that is," I said, raising my spear.

We cautiously approached the bush as Thalia raised her shield. At the last second, I jumped forward, reaching around the bush. I grabbed hold of something skinny and fleshy.

"Ack!"

I squinted at the person whose arm I'd just grabbed. "Nico? What are you doing out here?"

He unsuccessfully tried to wiggle out of my grip. "I was just- just going for a walk."

"Going for a walk," Thalia said disbelievingly. "In the middle of the night."

"Behind a bush," I added.

Nico looked down guiltily. "Look, I was just- just going to watch Bianca leave, okay?"

I let go of his arm. "Huh?"

"My sister. She's going on the quest. I'm worried about her."

"We're going on the quest with Bianca," Thalia said.

Nico looked up. "You are?"

"Yeah. Um, we'll watch out for her for you."

"Promise?" Nico asked.

"I promise," I said confidently.

After looking unsure for a moment, Thalia added, "I promise."

"Go get some sleep now," I told Nico, ruffling his hair.

Once Nico had ran off to the Hermes cabin, we continued on to the Big House. At it, there was a small gathering of people- Chiron, Argus the security guard, Zoe, a girl that I didn't know- that must have been Bianca- and the satyr who'd shown Nico into the Hermes cabin a couple of days ago.

"You are the fifth member of the quest, Mr. Crossley?" Chiron asked with surprise upon seeing me. "I thought you were just here for the weekend."

I shrugged. "Well, I didn't really have much of a choice, did I?"

Chiron shook my hand. "Well then, I wish you good luck on the quest, Mr. Crossley." He turned around. "I can lend one of the camp's delivery vans if you need transportation-"

"Wait a minute… I think I've got something better, actually. Step back." It was time to put my dad's gift to good use.

I clapped the heels of the shoes together, and for the first time since June, the black Dodge Charger expanded outwards from my pair of sneakers. The look of absolute surprise on everybody's face, I decided, was never going to get old.

I patted the hood. "Who's driving?"

After a moment, Zoe stepped forward. "I will drive."

"Sure. All right, then," I said, opening the car door. "Let's get moving."

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

I regretted letting Zoe drive. She was the most reckless driver I'd ever seen, and coming from someone who had been to Boston many times, that was something. As I sat against the door of the car with a satyr named Grover fast asleep next to me, and being thrown around like a Ping-Pong ball as Zoe drove like a bat out of hell, I was having serious second thoughts about joining this quest. Oh, well. We were already almost through New Jersey. I was in too deep to get out now. The question was, would I even survive? I was going on a quest to save Artemis. This was heavy stuff, way more than I'd bargained for. What even had the power to capture a goddess? And how could we have a snowball's chance in hell of defeating whatever this thing was if it could overcome a goddess?

Something else was nagging me about this quest. The prophecy the Oracle gave me last summer said, _To go west but not belong_. I was going west now, but what did that mean?

Thalia's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Why'd you make that promise to Nico?" she asked from the other side of the car.

"Was there something wrong with that?" I shot back.

"No. Just… promises are hard to keep. And if you break a promise, the other person never forgets. Believe me-" Her voice cracked very slightly. "-I know."

"Um, okay."

We didn't say anything for a long time. I leaned my head against the window and looked out at the gloomy morning. The sky was overcast and uniformly gray, except for a black speck in the distance. Probably a helicopter. It looked like we were already in Maryland. At this rate, we would be in-

Grover yawned and stretched. He sat up, blinking at the landscape rushing by outside. "Where are we?"

"Maryland?" I offered.

His stomach gurgled. "When do we stop for breakfast?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry too." I looked out the window. "Hey, there's a rest stop right over-"

Zoe pulled the car across two lanes of traffic and into the rest stop entrance. I smashed my head into the window as we screeched to a halt in the parking lot.

I rubbed my head tenderly as Thalia climbed out of the car, grumbling and nursing a bump on her head.

"Can't you drive normally?" she complained to Zoe. "At least let me drive!"

Zoe glared at Thalia. "You are one to talk. I have been driving the automobile since its invention. You nearly crashed the sun chariot!"

"The what?" I tried to ask, but Thalia was already stalking off towards the mini-market. I shrugged and followed her in. I went to the counter and bought a bottle of water, a bag of fruit snacks, and a pre-packaged blueberry muffin. A nutritious and wholesome breakfast.

As I paid the cashier, I became aware of someone standing behind me. I turned and saw Bianca.

"Um, hi," I said, uncapping my bottle of water.

"Hi," Bianca said awkwardly. "You're Jackson, right?"

"Yeah. You're Bianca?"

She nodded.

I struggled to come up with something to say. "So, um, where are you from?"

Thankfully, Bianca didn't seem to think that it was a stupid question. "Washington, D.C… I think." She frowned. "I don't remember it very well…"

I took a drink of my water. "Washington, D.C. Cool. Are you a Nationals fan?"

She looked at me strangely. "A _what_ fan?"

I mentally smacked myself in the forehead. "They're the baseball team. For Washington, D.C. Do you know them?"

To my surprise, she nodded in understanding. "Oh, yeah." Then a look of confusion crossed her face. "Weren't they called the Senators, though?"

"Uh, yeah, but that was back in, like, the 1930's."

She shrugged. "Huh. Never mind."

At that moment, Zoe, Thalia, and Grover came around the aisle.

"We've got an exact location," Grover announced. "We're going to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum."

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

After getting back on the road, we were in D.C. by late morning. We wound our way through the streets until we were at the front of the Smithsonian museum, where Zoe pulled over at the curb.

"Why are we here?" I asked, getting out of the car.

"This is where my tracking spell led us," Grover explained. "Something's in the Smithsonian that we need to see."

"I'm not complaining," I said, getting out of the car. "I've been wanting to go to this place forever. There's a rock from the moon that you can touch here."

Inside, the museum was fairly empty. After getting through security with some help from Thalia's Mist manipulation, we wound our way through the museum. I gazed around at the planes and space stuff, taking it all in. This was technically part of my dad's domain, although I wasn't sure if Zeus liked me being in here. I made a mental note to get out of here as soon as possible.

The top balcony was where all hell broke loose.

Thalia was standing next to the Apollo space capsule when suddenly, she was violently thrown backward, and a figure shimmered into existence in front of us. I had my spear out in seconds, but Zoe and Bianca were even faster drawing their bows. They were aimed at the attacker in seconds. The attacker was… Percy Jackson?

I lowered my spear in confusion. "Percy? What are you doing here?"

"You!" Zoe growled.

"Percy!" Grover said with a note of excitement. Zoe sent him a glare that quailed him immediately.

Percy looked like he'd been running for a while. "Luke," he gasped, bending over and trying to catch his breath. "Luke's here."

"Luke's here?" I raised my spear again, turning in a circle and scanning the museum and backing closer to the group. There was nobody in sight. Meanwhile, Percy, Zoe, and Thalia had started arguing. Thalia was getting pretty worked up at Zoe, and just when I thought it might come to blows, a massive roar echoed through the museum. I heard a scream, and then some little kid below yelled "Kitty!"

_Kitty?_

A massive lion the size of an SUV thundered up the ramp, with gleaming silver claws the size of milk cartons and glittering gold fur.

Oh. That kind of kitty.

I raised my spear as the lion let out a thunderous roar that rocked the entire platform and approached us, his lips pulled back in a ferocious snarl.

"Separate on my call," Zoe directed quickly. "Distract it until we figure out how to kill it. Go!"

I jumped backwards with Grover as Thalia went forwards, Percy went to the right, and Zoe and Bianca went right. Thalia took on the monster, advancing on it with her shield. It didn't seem too scared by Medusa's face, though. As Thalia raised her spear to attack, Percy yelled from the right, grabbing the attention of the lion. He swung his sword at its backside, but his blade bounced off in a shower of sparks, like the lion's skin was marble.

"The Nemean Lion," I said in realization.

"Exactly," Grover muttered. "Impenetrable skin."

I watched incredulously as Percy escaped the lion's clutches by jumping onto a Douglas DC-3 hanging from the ceiling, and he began jumping from plane to plane, as the lion followed right behind him, jumping onto a Lockheed Martin plane and then onto a P-51 Mustang as Percy escaped its claws by jumping onto a giant model of the earth and sliding down to the floor.

"Target the mouth!" he yelled, backing up towards the gift shop.

I hefted my spear as the lion turned towards me. Maybe I could get a clear shot on the mouth. I drew back and let the spear fly.

It sailed wide right, knocking over a display stand of little spaceship models and sending them everywhere. Now I was stuck without a weapon, and my spear was thirty feet below me. Percy and Thalia were on the bottom floor, circling the Nemean Lion as he crouched, growling.

In a split-second decision, I flipped off the platform and flew towards the second floor, praying to whoever the Greek God of parkour was that I would stick the landing and not get grievously injured.

Miraculously, I landed on my feet, although the landing was extremely hard. After a second on the ground to catch my breath, I managed to get up, and winced as a jolt of pain went through my foot. It didn't feel broken, but it hurt crazy bad. I hobbled over to the railing and looked over. Percy and Thalia were still alive, but Percy, for whatever reason, was running into the gift shop.

"This is not a time for knickknacks, boy!" Zoe shouted from above me.

I half-ran, half-stumbled down the stairs to the first floor as Percy came running back out towards the lion, with an armful of… I squinted. Was that freeze-dried ice cream?

Never mind what Percy was up to. I ran towards my spear, picking it up and getting ready to throw as Thalia advanced on the Nemean Lion. I couldn't get a shot off on the lion. It was keeping its mouth shut tight as it backed up to the far wall, crouching, like it was going to pounce on Thalia.

"Hey!" Percy yelled from off to the right. "Hey, kitty litter! It's me you want!"

I stared, dumbfounded, at Percy as the lion snapped its attention towards him, and opened its mouth in a roar. Then, suddenly, Percy cocked his arm and threw a packet of freeze-dried ice cream into the lion's mouth. The lion stopped dead, its eyes bulging as it opened its mouth wide, pawing at the thing in its throat. Percy threw another two packets into the mouth, furthering the lion's choking. As I watched, I realized that the lion had its mouth- the one vulnerable part of its body- wide open. Without hesitation, I slung my spear across the room at the same time that a volley of arrows came from above. Everything hit the mark. The lion was thrown back, and it reared up, clawing the air as blood spurted out of its mouth, its body began to dissolve into golden dust. Soon, all that was left of the lion was its golden pelt.

I stared at the pelt on the ground. We had just killed the Nemean Lion. With freeze-dried ice cream.

Zoe and Bianca gracefully jumped onto the ground floor, and the six of us congregated in a circle around the Nemean Lion's pelt.

"We need to get out of here," Grover said. "The spell I put on the mortals won't last long."

"Listen, there were skeleton warriors- the General said that there were skeleton warriors that would track our scent, and I'm sure that Doctor Thorn is going to be there," Percy said frantically. "You have to let me come along- I can-"

"Calm thyself," Zoe said, cutting him off. "You belong on this quest, Percy Jackson. I am not going to send you back."

A look of massive relief came across Percy's face. But then as he looked at the group of us, it was replaced by a lack of confusion. "But- but there's six of us. The prophecy said only five would go west."

Zoe looked unconcerned. "I will not ask anyone to turn back now. We have gone too far just to lessen our numbers. If the General is who I think he is-" She scowled. "-Then we will need as many as possible to defeat him."

I swallowed. That didn't sound good.

"Let's get out of here," Percy said urgently. No one disagreed.

But outside the Smithsonian, we were faced with another, although much less serious, challenge.

My car could only seat five people. We had six.

"Uh…" I said lamely, as I shrank my car back to its shoe form. "Okay, this isn't going to work. Any ideas?"

After a couple of minutes of racking our brains, Bianca brightened. "What if we took the subway?"

"To where?" Thalia asked.

"We could take the subway to one of the railway yards outside the city. I bet we could get a ride on a train heading west from there."

Zoe nodded. "That could work. It is worth a shot. Should we get going?"

Thalia pointed to the sky. "Yeah, I have a feeling that that helicopter is looking for us."

Above the Smithsonian, a sleek black helicopter was slowly circling the area, sticking close to the Air and Space Museum.

"Smithsonian Station," Bianca said. "It's down the street from here. Hurry."

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

After getting on the subway and changing trains a couple of times to ditch the helicopter and taking a couple-hour journey around the city, the six of us eventually found our way to the end of one of the subway lines, and just like Bianca said, there was a large railway yard there.

As we wound our way through the railway yard, it hit me that we didn't know which of these trains were going west. It was also freezing. I wrapped my sweatshirt tighter around me and wished that I had something warmer. At least Percy had his lion's pelt coat.

In the center of the yard, there was a homeless guy in a tattered aviator hat and a big green overcoat huddled up next to a fire in a barrel, warming his hands. When he saw us, he grinned and waved, motioning for us to come over. That automatically made me _less_ likely to go over, but my need for warmth won me out. As we approached, the man grinned at us with a toothless mouth.

"You kids need to warm up? Come on over. Gather around the fire. There's plenty of room."

"Thanks," Percy said, stepping up to the fire. When the other guy made no movement to assault Percy or us, I decided that he was probably harmless, and stepped up to the fire as well. What happened next made me rethink my decision.

As I stepped into the firelight with the others, the man's eyes widened at the sight of my face, and he stood up, scowling. "And what do we have here?" he snarled, coming around the barrel.

I gulped. "N-nothing, sir. I just wanted to warm my hands on the- on the fire. That's it. I was cold. Just cold."

He continued to scowl ferociously at me. "Stay out of my line of sight, kid, or I'll stick this knife through you." He pulled a rusty steak knife out of his pocket and waved it in my face.

Instantly, Zoe and Bianca had their bows drawn, notched, and pointed at the homeless guy. He looked at them and cackled. "Well, what do we have here? Junior archers?"

"Get away from him before I skewer you," Zoe said forcefully.

The man looked back and forth between me and Zoe and Bianca. Percy, Thalia, and Grover were still frozen in shock. I was desperately praying to every single deity that I could even think of that this man would not stab me or kill me in a painful and excruciating manner.

To my extreme thankfulness, the homeless man dropped his knife on the ground and stepped back. "All right," he said grudgingly. "Sorry, kid. A case of mistaken identity."

"Right," I said quickly, edging away from him.

He looked over at Zoe and Bianca, and he seemed to forget about me. "You girls remind me of my sister," he said wistfully. "She's a good shot."

Zoe nodded stiffly. "That is nice. We will be leaving now. Good day."

As the six of us turned to get as far away from the crazy homeless guy as possible, he called out, stopping us.

"Hey, you kids heading west, by any chance?"

Zoe turned around. "What is it to you?"

He pointed with a grimy finger. On the other side of the yard, a gleaming freight train was there, idling and waiting to leave the yard. The cars read SUN WEST LINES on the sides. It was a triple-decker car-carrier train.

"It's about to leave. You better catch it while you can," he said.

We all looked at each other, trying to decide if we should trust the homeless man.

Percy shrugged. "It's one way to get west."

The train blew its horn.

"You better get moving," the homeless guy said.

We all looked at each other, and then with a shrug, started towards the train.

I stopped and looked back at the homeless guy. "Uh, thanks, uh…?" I said questioningly.

He grinned. "Call me Fred."

"Thanks… Fred." I turned to leave, but then Fred called out to me one last time in a much sterner voice.

"Jackson Crossley."

I did a double take and turned around, facing 'Fred' and drawing my pocketknife. "What- Who are you?"

'Fred' took out a pair of sunglasses, put them on, and smiled at me. Suddenly, I began to notice other details about him. Golden strands of hair hung out from under his aviator cap. His teeth were gleaming white.

I backed up. "L-lord Apollo?"

Apollo grinned. "That's me." Then he grew deadly serious. "Jackson Crossley. If you are truly on this quest to save my sister, then my opinion of you has just grown. And if your quest succeeds, then… well, I may reconsider my opinion of you as a whole. You are not as like your father as I thought." He took off his sunglasses, and his eyes glowed dangerously. "But fail this quest, and I will ensure that you end up in the Fields of Punishment, or worse."

I swallowed. "I- I will do my best, Lord Apollo."

He stood up. "Good. Now go."

I turned and sprinted across the railway yard and climbed onto the train as it started to pull out. When I looked back to see if Apollo was still there, he was gone, leaving the train yard empty again as we rode out.

**A/N: There you go! Now the next chapter is where things are going to start to change. I hope you like this story, and I thank everyone who has taken the time to read this much. I just might get chapter twelve up by Sunday, 4/26, because this is my school break week. I'm officially setting that deadline. I hope to meet it. Don't forget to review. Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR MISSING MY DEADLINE! Geez, I want to smack myself sometimes. But anyway, here you go! Chapter Twelve! Enjoy, and don't forget to review.**

Inside the train, there was no problem with seating arrangements. Everyone got their own car. I got into a Cadillac Escalade, stretched out in the front seat, and prepared to take a nap. Just as I closed my eyes, I heard a voice next to me.

"Having fun?"

I jerked up in my seat, reaching for my pocketknife-spear as I turned to face the intruder. Vehiclos sat calmly in the passenger seat.

I lowered my pocketknife. "Um, hi, dad."

"Hello, Jackson," Vehiclos said evenly.

"What's going on? Why are you here?" I questioned.

"I'm fine. Still on the run. But the United States is a big place. Plenty of spots to hide. No, it's you I'm worried about, Jackson."

"Oh. Why are you worried about me? I'm fine. Zeus isn't trying to kill me anymore."

"I know that. But…" His face darkened. "Jackson, do you have any idea who you're going up against? Do you know who this General is that you have to defeat?"

"No."

Vehiclos sighed. "The General is an alias for Atlas."

"Atlas- the Titan who holds up the sky, right?"

"Yes. Apparently, he isn't holding up the sky anymore," Vehiclos said.

"Wait, so if he's not stuck under the sky, then does that mean that he's the one who trapped Artemis?"

Vehiclos nodded. "Correct. That's why I'm here, Jackson. I don't want you to go against Atlas without help."

"You're going to help me?" I asked hopefully.

"Not directly." He grimaced. "Those ancient laws keep me from doing that."

"Great. How can you help, then?"

"I'm not going to help." He reached over and tapped my head. "The help is going to come from you."

"I don't understand."

"You're the son of me, the Greek god of transportation. You have more powers than you might think."

"Like what?"

Vehiclos placed his hand on the dashboard of the car. Suddenly, the engine turned on, the headlights flashed, and the horn beeped. As I gaped at him, he spoke. "That's one thing. You can control cars or any other form of transportation. Planes, boats, and trains as well. Oh, and you may speak now," he said, directing his last sentence to something else.

A low, gravelly voice echoed through the cabin.

_Master!_

I jumped. "Whoa, who was that?"

"That's another one of your powers," Vehiclos said, smiling. "Although it's a little harder, you can talk to any form of transportation." He looked down at my sneakers. "Including the present I gave you last summer."

"That's right! I remember, I could talk to the car, and it said that I had the power to talk to cars-" I smacked my forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Well, you're thinking of it now. Try talking to the car," Vehiclos suggested.

Feeling somewhat stupid, I looked at the steering wheel. "Uh, hi."

_Hello, Son of the Transportation God._

I looked over at Vehiclos. "That's the car that I'm talking to, right?"

He nodded. "You're doing well. Keep go-" Abruptly, he stiffened, and a violent shiver passed over his body.

"What's wrong?" I asked, pulling out my spear.

"Apollo," Vehiclos said shortly. "He's here. In this train. I have to leave."

"Apollo's here? No, wait, I think that Apollo isn't as-"

Vehiclos vanished in a swirl of mist, leaving me alone in the car.

"-bad as you think," I finished to the empty air. Great.

I leaned back in my seat and rubbed my eyes. This day was just getting better. First Apollo, and then Vehiclos, and now I find out that I'm fighting a freaking Titan.

A knock on the window came from outside the car. I turned and saw Thalia.

She opened the door. "Mind if I come in?"

I opened the door. "Go ahead."

"Thanks." She slid into the passenger seat and slumped down. "Nice car."

"I found out who the General is."

Her head shot up. "What?"

I told Thalia about the conversation that I had with Vehiclos.

"Okay," Thalia said at the end, nodding. "So we're going up against a Titan. I'm guessing that he's using Artemis to hold up the sky now."

"Makes sense."

"We're screwed," she decided.

"Way to be positive."

"No, not just us. Everyone. The gods. I feel like we're fighting a losing battle." She sighed. "On some days, I just want to give it all up… to get back what I wanted…" She trailed off into silence. Abruptly, she seemed to realize that she was talking to me, and stopped.

"I shouldn't be talking about this stuff," she muttered. "Too depressing."

I couldn't think of a good answer. We fell silent.

Suddenly, Thalia punched the dashboard. "But how am I supposed to stay positive when Annabeth is being held hostage?!"

"Look, we'll get her back," I said lamely.

Thalia glared at me. "Really? You think everything's so easy, Jackson. I bet you think that this is all a big game. Let me tell you, it's not. You might have a life outside of the camp. I don't. This is all I have. My only friend is going to die if we don't save her. How's this sound, Jackson? Lives are at stake. And I'm prepared to die. Are you?" She opened the car door. "Think about that, Jackson. And maybe you'll realize that this is serious." With that, she left the car, slamming the door and leaving me in stunned silence.

After Thalia's exit, I put the seats in the Cadillac down all the way and tried to go to sleep. But for a while, all I could think about was Thalia's tirade. Was she right? Did I really think that this was a game? She was, I realized with a sinking feeling, right. I was an outsider in this world. Here I was, worrying about missing school, when the fate of western civilization hung in the balance.

Feeling miserable, I tried to think about something else. That didn't help, because my thoughts drifted to a line from my prophecy. _To go west but not belong_.

_Five shall go west._

We had six. Percy Jackson was supposed to be on this quest. I wasn't. I didn't belong. One more line of my prophecy explained.

I drank my dream medicine and tried to go to sleep. I slept, but not before something else occurred to me.

_One shall be lost in the land without rain._

Was I going to die?

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

I awoke to Thalia shaking me.

"Yo, Jackson, get up. The train's stopped."

I opened my eyes and squinted at Thalia. "Where are we?"

"No idea. Get up, we're getting off here."

I climbed out of the Cadillac as Thalia and Zoe started rolling up the metal curtains on the side of the train car, and I looked out at the landscape. We weren't in Washington D.C, anymore, that was for sure. I could see mountains in the distance that looked like the Rockies. The sun was starting to rise behind the peaks.

Percy and Grover came up behind us as I jumped off the train. We were at the edge of a tiny town. In front of us, a large sign read WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. Behind the sign, a one-lane road led into the town.

It wasn't much. The main street held a hotel, a gas station, a grocery store, some other shops and restaurants, and some empty cabins. That was it. There weren't any bus stops or rental car services.

"Great," Thalia said exasperatedly. "Looks like we're stuck here."

"At least there's a coffee shop," Grover pointed out. Zoe nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Thalia said. "You two can go get something there. Percy and Bianca, go into the grocery store to see if there's any way to get out of this town. Jackson and I will check out the other stores."

"Sounds good," Percy said. He and Bianca crossed the street to the grocery store, and Zoe and Grover started towards the coffee shop, leaving Thalia and I on the road.

"Gas station first?" Thalia offered.

"Sure."

As we walked down the street to the gas station, I searched Thalia's face for any signs of loathing towards me. I couldn't see any. Her face was a neutral mask.

"So… about what you said yesterday…" I began cautiously.

Thalia looked directly at me. "Yes?"

"You were right."

She nodded with satisfaction. "Good. Your problem, Jackson, is that you think that this is like, a hobby for you. You act like you can just leave this stuff behind any time and go back to a normal life. You can't. If you try to hide or run, somebody or something will find you eventually. Once you're in this, you can't get out."

I had no words.

"Here we are," Thalia said as we came to the entrance of the gas station. "Let's see if there's a way out of this town."

We didn't have much luck in the gas station, or anywhere else. In every place that we tried, the answer was the same: The only way out of Cloudcroft was by car. Guess what we didn't have.

After our fruitless search, Thalia and I sat down on a bench in front of the general store to brainstorm.

"I still have these." I pointed to my shoes. "I could bring the car back out. But then somebody would have to sit on someone's lap…" I trailed off at Thalia's icy glare. "No," I decided.

"Yeah. We could try catching another train…" she mused.

I shook my head. "We might not see another one for a while. What we need is…" I stopped as an idea popped into my head. "Wait."

"What?" Thalia asked.

"My dad is the transportation god, right? So I might be able to summon a car or something."

She shrugged. "It's worth a try. Give it a shot."

I stood up. "Okay… ummm… Uh, dad, can you help me out?" I looked around expectantly for a few seconds. Nothing happened.

Thalia snorted. "That worked."

I mock-glared at her. "Yeah, like you could do better."

She opened her mouth to say something else when we saw it. A black van was slowly idling up the road in the distance.

I reached for my spear. "Do you see that?"

Thalia looked up. "Yeah. Do you think they're-"

The van picked up speed suddenly, barreling straight towards us.

"-they're looking for us!" she finished, unfurling her shield and raising her spear as the van sped towards us.

"Hi-yah!" she yelled, slamming her spear onto the ground. A blast of lightning flew down from the sky, hitting the van hard and flipping it over.

"Nice," I said.

But then the door on the side of the van opened, and four skeletons in New Mexico State Trooper uniforms climbed out, batons and guns in hand. They turned to us and raised their guns.

Thalia ducked behind her shield. I instinctively clapped the heels of my sneakers together. My Dodge Charger jumped out in front of us just in time to catch the hail of bullets aimed at us. I crouched behind the car with Thalia as the gunshots continued.

"Good thinking," Thalia whispered. "Saved our butts. Got any ideas on how to get out of here?"

"Let me try something." I placed my hand on the side of the car and closed my eyes, concentrating on the car and willing it to start. The engine started, and the car's voice spoke in my mind.

_You called?_

"Can I control you from outside the car?" I asked.

_Yes. Just concentrate, and you should be able to do it._

"Thanks. I'm sorry, but what I'm about to do might hurt a little."

_My middle name is pain. Go ahead._

I clenched my teeth. "Here we go."

"Whatever you're going to do, make it quick," Thalia muttered.

I concentrated even harder, envisioning the car moving forward. I felt something, like a little push on my stomach. I pushed back harder. The pressure increased, and I fought back, gritting my teeth and trying to force the car to move with just my mind. Just when I thought it wasn't going to work, I felt a breeze pass by my face. I opened my eyes and saw the car pulling away from us. Overcoming the shock, I willed the car faster, pushing it towards the skeleton van.

"Go! Go!" I yelled, straining to push the car harder with my mind, like I was flexing a muscle. Then, with a clatter, the car smashed into the skeletons, sending skulls and femurs flying everywhere. Not a single skeleton was left standing.

I clapped my heels, and the car disappeared, reappearing as sneakers on my feet, and just like that, the fight was over, leaving the overturned van and a pile of bones in the road.

Thalia stared at me. "That was-"

"-Cool?" I finished hopefully.

She rolled her eyes. "I was going to say freaky."

Before I could reply, I heard a clattering noise. We turned and saw the pile of bones that had formerly been skeletons were moving around and starting to reform. As we watched, two leg bones reconnected with a hip bone, and the deformed skeleton started to get up, searching for its head.

I looked at Thalia. "Let's get out of here."

"Yup."

We turned and ran.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

After finding Percy, Bianca, Zoe, and Grover, we tried to make a run for it. It didn't work. The skeletons caught up with us on the edge of the town. Two of them came from the front with their guns drawn, blocking the road.

"Get back," Thalia said, drawing her shield.

We couldn't. From behind us, another two appeared. We were surrounded. The six of us backed into a tight circle.

"There's more," Percy said warningly.

"How many?" Zoe asked.

"Twelve."

"We have to get out of here _now_," Thalia said urgently. "These skeletons don't die."

Suddenly, two of the skeletons raised their guns.

"DUCK!" I yelled, throwing my spear at the nearest gun-wielding skeleton. My spear sliced through the ribs of the skeleton, scattering its bones everywhere.

My yell threw the rest of us into action. Thalia sent a blast of lightning down onto the other skeleton about to fire, and Percy charged the third skeleton, slashing the sword through its ribcage. Then the fourth skeleton shot him in the back. He toppled face-first into the snow.

"PERCY!" Thalia cried.

To our amazement, Percy raised his head out of the snow a few seconds later.

"His coat!" Bianca said in realization. "It's bulletproof!"

Of course. Percy staggered to his feet, slightly woozy, but lacking any obvious mortal wounds, thank the gods. The other three skeletons had reformed, and the four of them were circling us again. My spear was lying out of reach behind them.

Zoe, seeing my predicament, produced a knife from her coat pocket. "Here!" she called, flipping it to me.

I caught it and backed up against Grover.

"A blessing from the wild," he moaned.

"What blessing?" I asked, keeping an eye on the skeletons.

"A gift," he replied woozily.

One of the skeletons chose that moment to charge Bianca, but she pulled her knife out and reflexively stabbed the skeleton in the chest. Instead of falling into a pile of bones, it burst into flames and disintegrated into a pile of dust that made no attempt to reform.

"What was _that_?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know. Maybe that's their weakness?" Bianca offered.

"Aim for the chest," Zoe advised.

But now the skeletons were more wary, and they closed into a line and pressed us backwards at gunpoint, keeping their distance from us, especially Bianca.

"We _have_ to get out of here," Thalia repeated.

A rustling came in from behind us in the bushes.

"A gift," Grover gasped.

"What are you talking about?" I hissed at him frustratedly. I got my answer a few seconds later.

"_SQUEAAAAAALLLLLLLL!_"

A massive pig came bounding out of the trees and jumped over us, smashing into the skeletons so hard that their bones were sent flying hundreds of feet into the air. I watched as one of the skulls landed on a rocky cliff face in the distance. Those bones would have a hard time reforming now.

"A gift from the wild!" Grover said, enchanted.

"Great! How do we use it?" Thalia asked.

Her voice caught the attention of the boar, and it turned to face us.

"_SQUEAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!_"

It pawed the ground and charged us. With the realization that the massive boar was bearing down on me, and my only defense was Zoe's hunting knife, I did the smart thing: run.

Everyone else had the same idea, and we all scattered in different directions as the boar approached. That worked at, least for a couple seconds, as the boar tried to decide which of us to go after.

"It's going to kill us!" I yelled, searching for my spear.

"Of course it wants to kill us!" Grover said, as if this was what we should have expected. "It's wild!"

"What kind of blessing is that?" Percy asked.

Grover looked extremely offended at that, but before he could reply, the boar charged us again, going for Zoe and Bianca. They launched a volley of arrows, but they just bounced off the boar's skin.

I finally found my spear, and picked it up, ready to fight. Zoe was lithely dodging the boar's slashing tusks, trying to score a hit with her bow, but all of her shots were still bouncing off the boar's impervious skin.

"Hi-yah!" Thalia bellowed, slashing her spear downwards and summoning a bolt of lightning. It sailed down from the sky and smashed into the boar's head. The boar stopped, looked around, saw Thalia, and let out a thunderous roar, charging her and Percy. It didn't seem wounded in the least.

Thalia and Percy ran into the woods, with the boar following right behind them. Zoe, Bianca, Grover, and I watched as the sounds of the chase faded into the distance.

"We have to follow them," Grover said urgently, starting after them. "We can't lose that boar!"

"You were saying it was a blessing," I said to Grover as we ran through the trees. "A blessing from who?"

"Pan," Grover responded reverently. "The lord of the wild. He has not been seen in millennia. To receive a blessing from him is a compliment of the highest order."

"Why-" I cut myself off as the woods came to a halt at a steep gorge next to a collapsed train trestle. At the bottom of the ravine, I could see two figures in the snow, and further away, the wiggling brown backside of the boar sticking out of the snow.

"Are they alive?" Bianca asked nervously. Her question was answered when Percy and Thalia started moving in the snow below us.

"Let's move," Zoe said, starting down the slope. Grover, Bianca, and I followed.

At the bottom of the hill, the boar was still struggling in the snow.

"Here's our ride west!" Grover proclaimed, jumping on the back.

Zoe jumped on after him. Bianca and I followed. Still trying to get out of the snow, Percy and Thalia were the last to get on the back of the boar. Grover pulled out a set of reed pipes and played a tune, conjuring a floating apple, which he set in front of the boar. Immediately, the boar went nuts trying to get the apple. We rocketed off, with Grover piloting us via apple-guided boar to our destination.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

Our destination, it turned out, was somewhere in the middle of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. The boar came to a stop at a muddy creek bed and started to drink the water.

"We need to get off. This is the furthest it's going to go," Grover said, sliding off the back.

We followed, and as the boar munched on saguaro cacti, we took in our surroundings. In front of us was a two-lane road and a group of abandoned buildings: a post office with a hanging sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA, a boarded-up house, and a decrepit taco shop. The ghost town didn't look like it had seen visitors in a couple of decades. Behind the buildings were a group of hills that stretched to the horizon. Something was off about those hills. They didn't look like normal hills. As I looked at them, I realized that they weren't earthen hills. They were hills made up of junk- mountains of metal and glass and plastic and old appliances and wrecked cars.

The boar, finished with devouring saguaros, turned and bounded off back towards where we came from.

"This is even worse than Cloudcroft," Thalia said, staring at the three run-down buildings. "We can't even call an expensive taxi." She looked at Grover. "You don't have another wild blessing, do you?"

Grover bent down and pulled a handful of acorns from his bag, and after scattering them on the ground, he played a tune on his pipes, causing the acorns to rearrange themselves. He looked at them with consternation.

"Those six acorns are us," he said finally. "The cluster to the left is trouble."

"A monster?" Zoe asked.

Grover shook his head uneasily. "Not a monster. Something else. I don't know what, but what I do know is that our next challenge is that way." He pointed to the junkyard in front of us.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

A couple of hours later, after a weird run-in with Ares and Aphrodite, we found ourselves in the middle of the massive junkyard, with no idea where we were or where to go.

"This is the Junkyard of the Gods. Take absolutely nothing," Zoe warned. "Everything is here for a reason, whether it is a defect… or a curse."

On that note, we began our journey through the junkyard. I noticed random things as we made our way through- old weapons, golden jewelry, old cars, guns, and oddly shaped pieces of celestial bronze were just a few of the things there. Around us, piles of washing machines and computer monitors and fridges and appliances towered over our heads. Once, a blender fell to the ground with a crash, narrowly missing Grover.

Multiple times, we had to remind ourselves not to take anything. Bianca found a Hunter's bow that turned into a hair clip. Percy found an electric guitar shaped like a lyre. I found a cool old Louisville Slugger baseball bat. We left all of them behind.

After what felt like hours of walking, the four of us came to the top of a hill, and we finally saw something other than piles of junk. In the distance, the junkyard came to an end, with a highway leading away from it and into the desert. However, between us and the road was something unexpected.

Ten columns rose into the air, coming to a stop at rounded points. As the six of us stared at this new obstacle, a creepy thought came into my head. They looked like giant toes.

"Who puts giant metal toes in the middle of a junkyard?" Percy asked, voicing our thoughts.

"It doesn't matter. Let's get down and go around those… things so we can get to the highway. Maybe we can hitchhike or something," Thalia decided.

No one complained about going around the toes. They looked way too weird to even get near.

As we came down the hill of junk, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw a fresh blue tarp that was covering something. It looked so out of place compared to the rest of the junkyard that I stopped.

"What?" Zoe asked, turning when she noticed me stopping.

"What is this?" I wondered, grabbing an edge of the tarp.

"No, do not-" Zoe started to say, but before she could finish, I had pulled the tarp off, revealing a vintage Chevy Corvette in pristine condition.

"Whoa," I gasped, bending over to inspect the car. "This is way too good to be stuck in a junkyard." I couldn't believe my eyes when I noticed something else. "Oh, wow. The car key's in the ignition. I wonder if it runs."

"Leave it," Zoe said sharply. "Remember, everything is here for a reason."

Reluctantly, I got up, leaving the car behind as we began circling around the metal toes.

After holding our breath for quite a while, we made it to the end with no trouble. However, the trouble came when we got to the road.

"We made it," Bianca said, sighing in relief as we came up to the asphalt.

But we hadn't. From behind us, an enormous screeching noise erupted, like a hundred violin bows being drawn across a piece of metal at once. We turned and saw a massive metal automaton rising out of the ground, towering above us. The ten huge toes that we'd seen were dwarfed in comparison to the rest of the huge bronze figure above us.

"Talos?!" Percy yelped, jumping back.

"Talos? As in that giant robot that was like, impossible to kill?"

My question never got answered, because at that moment, the automaton turned to face us. With another enormous screech, it pulled a rusty sword from an equally large scabbard on his side. The sword easily hit fifty feet long. Then, with one step, the robot covered the distance between it and us.

"Any ideas?" Thalia said, backing up.

"Split up!" Zoe barked, ducking to the left.

The six of us scattered in the strategy that had worked so well in the past. But now, against that robot, it was ineffective. One swing of its sword would kill all of us. Fortunately, it was also slow, because it slammed the blade down in the spot that all of us had just vacated. The impact shook the earth, throwing me down to the ground. To my right, Grover, thinking fast, played a tune on his pipes that bewitched some nearby power poles to dance around the robot's feet and trip it up. It seemed to work, as the automaton stopped, its legs tangled in the wires, but then he turned, smacking Grover with his sword. He flew twenty feet into the air and smacked down, landing on a dented washing machine.

"Grover!" Percy cried.

Suddenly, as I looked back and forth between the automaton and the telephone poles, a plan began to form in my head. It was crazy and stupid, but it just might work.

I turned and ran back to the old Corvette, dodging another downward stab from the automaton. At the Corvette, I notice Bianca taking cover behind a pile of fishing rods. I reached down and turned the key of the car, praying to Vehiclos that it would turn on.

It turned on easily.

"Thank the gods!" I yelled, throwing open the door and jumping into the seat.

"What are you _doing_?" Bianca demanded, grabbing the door as I started to shut it.

"I've got a plan," I said quickly. "It might work. I'm-"

"I've got one, too," she interrupted. "There's a maintenance hatch in that thing's foot. If I can get under it, maybe I can get inside it and shut it down."

At that moment, I remembered a promise that I made to Nico a few days ago. "Are you crazy?" I protested. "You'll get killed!"

Bianca didn't have a good answer for that immediately, and I took the opportunity to slam down on the gas pedal, pulling off in a screech of tires and zooming towards the robot. I blasted the car horn, trying to grab its attention.

"Yo, rust bucket!" I bellowed, waving my arms. "I'm the one you want!"

It worked. The automaton turned to face me and raised its sword. I responded by pushing down harder on the gas pedal, and I zoomed right between its legs, just missing the path of its sword. I was headed straight for the power lines. Perfect. The automaton turned around clumsily and gave chase, but I was already passing under the power lines. The trap was set. All I had to do was drive out of the way as the robot tripped over the power wires and came crashing down.

I slammed on the brakes and turned the car to the left, trying to get out of the way as the automaton closed in. Then I pressed on the accelerator. And nothing happened.

"What?!" I pushed down harder. The engine gave a weak cough, and then no sound at all came out.

"No!"

The car was dead. I was left in the path of a charging automaton that was about to fall on me. And I had no time to get out of the way.

_Everything is here for a reason,_ Zoe had said. Well, I'd learned the hard way why the Corvette was here. I stared up at the automaton as it thundered towards me. Everything slowed down as the robot's foot caught on the power lines, and it pitched forward, balancing precariously for the tiniest moment, before falling forward in what felt like slow motion, electric charges coursing up its body from the power lines.

At least my sacrifice would save the others.

_One shall be lost in the land without rain._

I sat motionless as the thousand-ton robot fell forwards onto me. In the distance, behind the automaton, I could see Percy, Bianca, Thalia, and Zoe watching in horror. That was the last thing I saw.

**A/N: That's Chapter Twelve, in the books. On to chapter thirteen. The epilogue… or is there more to come? Find out next time. I'm setting a deadline of May 12th for the next chapter. Stay posted! Anyway, please review. Thank you! Air Force Muffin out.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: Well, here you go. The cliffhanger is resolved in 3…2…1… **

Weirdly, there was no pain. Everything went black for a long time, and then I was floating through a deep, dark expanse. I couldn't make anything out, but I had a vague feeling of drifting downwards.

I saw something below me. It was a bright square of light. I floated down to it, and through it, and a blinding flash lit up my vision.

Suddenly, I was tumbling through the air. Below me, I saw the ground rushing up awfully fast to meet me. Instinctively, I tucked into a ball, bracing for impact. But when I hit the ground, I landed with a gentle thud that only kicked up some dust around me.

I got up, brushing myself off, as I surveyed the land around me. I had landed next to a river. On the banks of the river were dark poplar trees. The sky was dark. Not nighttime dark, but like dark sunlight. I blinked, looking around. Where was I?

Then my memories of the fight with the robot came rushing back, and it hit me. I was dead. This was the Underworld. I was standing on the banks of the River Styx.

I was dead.

I let that sink in as I looked around. I was the only one on either side of the shore, and I couldn't see anyone or anything in any direction. I had no idea where in the Underworld I was.

Then I heard a cough from behind me.

I turned around and saw three ghostly figures seated in three towering black thrones, looking down at me. They had to be Radamanthus, Aeacus, and Minos- The three judges of the underworld who would decide where to send me for eternity.

Radamanthus looked down at me from his seat. "Jackson Crossley," he began. "Son of Vehiclos."

"Sacrificed himself to save his friends," Aeacus added.

"Knowingly fraternized with the enemy," Minos said, frowning.

Radamanthus nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He has expressed desire to overthrow the Olympians."

"Wait, what?" I cut in. "When did I ever do that?"

They ignored me. "His father is a traitor," Minos continued. "He must be guilty in some fault- he has seen his father before."

The other two judges nodded in agreement.

"Wait, guilty of what?" I asked.

"I believe that a sufficient punishment is in order," Aeacus said, ignoring me.

"Punishment?!" I yelped.

"I recommend the Fields of Punishment," Minos decided. "All in agreement?"

Radamanthus and Aeacus nodded their heads.

"Good. It is settled, then." Minos turned to me. "Jackson Crossley, you are hereby sentenced to the Fields of Punishment."

"What?! What did I do?" I screamed.

Minos' lips spread in a hideous grin. "You'll have plenty of time to think about that. Your punishment starts… now."

I spun around and saw a bright streak of lightning flying towards me. And then everything was white-hot pain. It all faded to black.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

I jerked up, my eyes slamming open, and I rolled onto my side, breathing hard, and still feeling the effects from the lightning bolt. I had a ringing headache, and my body hurt all over. As I laid on the ground, I became aware of something weird. Things around me had changed. It was so dark that I couldn't see my hands. The ground had changed, too. It felt sandy, like… like… a desert.

I opened my eyes wide and began feeling the ground. That was sand. A farfetched thought hit me, and I ran my hands over my body. It felt solid. If it was solid, than that meant-

I WAS ALIVE!

I WAS ALIVE!

"THANK THE GODS!" I screamed, flopping down onto my back and inhaling deeply, tasting the air that I thought I wouldn't see again. I placed my hands on my chest and felt the glorious pounding of life coming from my heart. I was alive. My trip to the Underworld had been just a dream. Just a dream.

Then I remembered where I was.

I was under a thousand-ton automaton that wouldn't be moving anytime soon. Great.

Everything around me was pitch-black. As I slowly sat up, I became aware of a dull ache in my elbow. I turned it over and found a gash that was still oozing a little blood.

I tentatively sat up, feeling the space around me. Suddenly, my hand hit something. I felt further, and my fingers closed around a handle. I pulled it, and it swung out. This, I realized, was the Corvette. I slid into the car and blindly felt around. Finally, I found what I was looking for- the ignition. The key was still in there. Cautiously, I twisted it. The engine was silent. Completely dead.

"Damn it," I muttered, slumping my head on the steering wheel and smacking the dashboard. Then, astonishingly, one of the headlights flickered on, illuminating my surroundings.

I looked up. In the weak glow from the headlight, I could see that one-half of the Corvette was crushed under the wreckage of the robot. That explained why it wouldn't start. The space in front of me was about six feet high, seven feet long, and ten feet wide. All around me, metal was twisted at odd angles, forming walls. It looked like I was in a metal cave. There was no way out. I sighed and slumped down in the car seat. I was trapped. I was going to die here alone.

Then a fierce desire to live overcame me. I had already defied the odds once by not being crushed by the automaton. Why couldn't I escape from the wreckage now?

I got out of the car, saw my backpack on the floor, and got down to look through it. There wasn't much. There was an extra change of clothes, a half-empty bottle of water and a bag of fruit snacks (from the rest stop in Maryland), and a small baggie of ambrosia. I also had my pocketknife-spear, of course. That was it.

Wait. No, there was something else. I dug down deeper and felt a pile of something- what was it? Glass beads? I frowned, pulling them out. They were shards of glass. Glass from what? And why were the pieces wet?

The answer hit me like a freight train. Oh, no. My dream medicine from Asclepius. The stuff that was keeping me from going insane.

"NO!" I screamed, flopping to the ground. I _needed_ that medicine. I was going to get the horrible nightmares without it.

I sat up again, shaking my head. Okay. Stay calm. There was a simple solution. Just don't go to sleep yet. Get out of here first.

There. That was one problem solved. I slowly calmed myself down. I'd watched enough episodes of _Survivorman_ to know what I needed to do. And I needed to be rational.

Take stock of your problems.

Okay. I was trapped. I had limited food and water. I was still in pain. I didn't know if the ceiling would collapse or not. Then another thought froze me. Was there enough air in here? Okay. That was a big problem.

Prioritize.

Okay. Air was obviously the biggest deal, but first, I needed to take care of my pain. I had a bunch of scrapes and cuts all over my body in addition to the cut on my elbow. An infected cut was the last thing I needed.

I chewed a piece of the ambrosia, and the aches and pains in my body melted away. The lesser cuts disappeared, and the big one on my elbow at least slowed its bleeding. To be safe, I tied my extra t-shirt around the cut and stood up.

Good. One problem solved. Now I had to get out of here. Maybe I could move one of the walls. I began walking around, tapping on the metal and listening for any sounds of hollowness. But it all sounded the same. I couldn't tell if there was any way to move them. Experimentally, I tried pushing one of the walls. It didn't budge.

I sat down against the wall, burying my face in my hands. I was really trapped.

As a desperate last resort, I looked up to the sky. "Um, dad, or anyone who's listening, can you help me out?"

I waited for a long time, but there was no answer, not even a sound.

"DAMN IT!" I yelled, throwing my spear it into the nearest wall. Then, to my shock, the spear plunged _through_ the metal, and stopped with half of the shaft inside.

"What the heck?" I got up and approached the wall that my spear had impaled. This wall was steel, not celestial bronze. My spear could cut through it. And there was some sort of empty space behind this piece of metal. I plucked my spear out of the wall and began vigorously attacking the steel. After a few minutes of hacking away, I had made a hole big enough to climb through. There was some sort of empty space. I slung my backpack over my shoulder, climbed through, and surveyed my new surroundings.

Some light filtered into the room from the headlights of the car, allowing me to see that I was in a long, twisted tunnel. This had to be one of the limbs of the automaton. If this was the leg, then maybe I could get out through the maintenance hatch that Bianca had mentioned.

Thinking of Bianca stopped me in my tracks. She, Thalia, Percy, Grover, and Zoe thought that I was dead. Were they dead, too?

With that in mind, I began exploring the innards of the massive robot. The first tunnel I took was a dead end. Going in the other direction took me on a long, twisting route through the body of the automaton. Everything was completely silent and pitch-black, giving me an odd feeling of sensory deprivation. After a few minutes, I rounded a corner and was unexpectedly greeted by a blaze of light.

I blinked at the sudden brightness. This was real sunlight. In front of me was an opening in the tunnel leading outside. I stepped forward and looked around disbelievingly. I was free.

It looked like, during the fall, one of the automaton's arms had separated at the elbow, leaving an opening for me to get out. Still dazed, I climbed onto a piece of the wreckage and looked around. Pieces of the destroyed automaton were scattered all over the place and in so many pieces that it looked like another junkyard. The sun was high in the sky, very different from when I'd last seen it. At least half a day had passed since I got trapped in the automaton. I couldn't know how long, because I had lost my watch somewhere inside the robot, and I sure wasn't going back in there just to get it.

I climbed down from the wreckage and onto open ground. For a minute, I stood there, taking in the open air and sunlight.

"I can't believe it," I laughed, falling to my knees. "I did it! I DID IT!"

It didn't matter that no one could hear me. I heard it, and that was enough. I sat there for a couple of minutes, feeling the wind blowing across my face, before getting up and moving on. I started walking towards the road in the distance. At the road, I clapped the heels of my shoes together, and the black Dodge Charger swirled out again. I opened the door and got in.

_What's up?,_ the car asked.

"Not much," I replied, turning on the ignition and pulling onto the road, thankful for something to talk to. "I need to get out of here."

A few minutes later, I pulled up to a train crossing as the sun started to set. There was a long freight train coming through. As I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the train to pass by, I idly tried to read the names on the boxcars.

They all said EAT REN PFACIF on the side.

That was _not_ right. I squinted at the boxcars. The moving train made the letters impossible to read. It wasn't WE STEER NPAFCIC, either. Or WE STERNPA CIFC. Hang on. I concentrated on the letters.

WE STERN PACIFIC.

Then it clicked.

WESTERN PACIFIC.

The train cars all said "Western Pacific" on them. That train was heading west. Exactly where I needed to go.

I pulled off the road and revved the car engine, coming up alongside the train as it rumbled past. I had to get on that train. Just because I was separated from the group didn't mean that I was giving up.

As I drove next to the train, a ridiculous idea formed in my head. It might kill me. But since I had already beaten the odds on dying twice before, I decided to go ahead and do it anyway.

I rolled down the window and unbuckled my seatbelt.

_What are you doing?_ the car asked.

"Just watch," I muttered, starting to lift myself out the window of the car.

I climbed out the window and got onto the top of the car. Now I was car-surfing, and controlling the car with my mind, trying to stay even with the train and not fall off. I willed the car as close to the edge of the train as it could safely get. As we drew up, I caught sight of a series of rungs on the side of the boxcar and reached out, trying to grab them. I failed once, and then twice.

"Here goes nothing," I muttered, crouching down.

I jumped off the car and flew towards the train. For one long second, I was suspended in midair, between the car and the train, moving at sixty miles an hour, in a scene that wouldn't have looked out of place in a spy movie.

Then I slammed into the boxcar, and I scrabbled for grip on the rungs. I grasped a rung with one hand, and then with two, as I pressed myself to the side of the train and hung on for dear life. Next to me, the car was still running alongside the train, but starting to lose speed.

_Summon me to your shoe form now!_ The car said quickly. _Before the connection is lost, and you lose me._

Immediately, I slammed my heels together, and the car flew back onto my feet, transforming back into sneakers.

That was close. I leaned against the side of the boxcar, gasping, for a couple of minutes, before catching my breath and taking stock of my situation. A ladder led up from the side of the train and on to the top. I swung over onto it and started climbing. On the roof of the car was a hatch that led to the inside of the boxcar. I crawled inside and slumped down against a crate, breathing heavily. I was tired to the bone. Without realizing it, my eyes started to droop. I didn't realize my mistake until it was too late.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

My nightmares struck hard and without hesitation. But they were different from before. Last summer, I was plagued with images of Zeus and Apollo torturing me with lightning. At least I knew what was going on. This time, my nightmares were fragmented and confusing and chaotic and painful. Did I mention painful?

It was a pitch-black night, as a thunderstorm raged, with the only light coming from the literal thousands of lightning bolts streaking down from the sky like rain. They targeted me like heat-seeking missiles, and as I ran through the rain, desperately trying to dodge them, the flashes in the night illuminated other things. I saw everyone that I knew and cared for, dead. Grant and Kaia, Thalia, Hector, Trey and Adam- just to name a few. Their bodies laid on the ground in muddy puddles, covered in hideous wounds, their blood mixing with the water.

As I stumbled through the rain and lightning, trying to escape, my foot hit yet another body. I had seen so many dead bodies already that I almost just kept walking, but then the body let out a moan. I stopped short and took another look at the body. I recognized that voice.

"MOM?!" I screamed. My mother was there, lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. I bent down and grabbing her head, trying to shake her awake. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Jackson…" she groaned.

"Mom, oh gods, mom, I have to save you, oh gods, what happened-"

I stopped abruptly as she let out a groan and went limp in my arms, her eyes becoming still and glassy.

"MOM!" I bent down and grabbed her wrist, feeling for a pulse. Nothing.

"MOM!"

Still nothing.

I collapsed onto my back and let the raindrops fall onto my face.

"Come and get me, then!" I screamed at the lightning. "Kill me now! I have nothing!"

The lightning came, all right. It came down hard, pounding me all over, and with each successive blast, I thought that that was it, I was going to die now, and I would end up in the Fields of Punishment, but death never came. Pain. That was all I felt. I watched as my body regenerated again and again after being blown apart by a lightning bolt. Dully, I though, _that isn't supposed to happen._ Then, by some miracle, my pain-clouded mind made the connection.

"No! This is just a dream!" I yelled out. "This isn't happening! It's all in my head!"

Suddenly, the lightning bolts halted, and an ominous voice echoed through the air.

_At last you realize it, Jackson Crossley. Dreams can be a very cruel thing. I certainly know that._

"Who are you?" I gasped. I tried to get up, but my knees gave out under me, sending me tumbling down again.

_Man knows me as many things. I am the Sandman. I am the nightmare, I am the dream, I am the human, I am the specter, I am the reality, I am the mirage, I am the enlightenment of souls, I am the burden of souls, I am the best moment of your life, I am the worst moment of your life._

A massive wave of force blasted me backwards.

_I AM MORPHEUS,_ the voice thundered.

"M-Morpheus? The god of dreams?"

A figure materialized in front of me, wearing a trench coat, sunglasses, and a fedora that covered his face in a way that I couldn't make out his expression.

"Indeed," he said. "It has been so long since I have been able to touch your mind. I underestimated the power of Asclepius."

"Underestimated the power of- Wait. Hold on." I pointed at Morpheus. "Are you saying that you're the one who was giving me all those nightmares last summer?"

"Yes," he said, with a note of pride.

"You absolute fucking bastard-" I went for my spear, but to my dismay, it wasn't in my pocket.

"Looking for something?" Morpheus asked, holding up my pocketknife.

"How the hell did you get that?" I growled.

Morpheus began lazily tossing the knife up and down. "I _am_ the god of dreams. What do you think this is that we're in?"

"A dream, but-"

"There you go. I have control over every dream. And in this dream, I have your weapon."

"So this is just a dream. Can you physically hurt me?" I asked warily.

"No, but I can cause you massive emotional pain. Which, by the way, I think I'll return to doing."

Thunder rumbled overhead.

"NO!" I yelled, flailing my arms. "This is just a dream! I can make myself wake up, like- like-like this!" I jumped sideways as hard as I could, and… Nothing happened. I crashed to the ground.

"I'm also the god of sleep," Morpheus said offhandedly. "So, it's all too easy to keep you here. Just a little snap of the fingers, and down you go, _zzzzzz_."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked through gritted teeth. What did I ever do to you?"

"Oh, it's nothing personal," Morpheus said, waving his hand. "No, I'm doing this for another reason."

Great. I wasn't bad enough that I was trapped inside my own mind with a god, but now the god was displaying sociopathic tendencies. "What reason would that be?"

Instead of replying, he changed the subject. "I can stop this, you know."

"Really?"

"On one condition."

"What?"

"Pledge your allegiance to the Titans, and guarantee your father's allegiance as well, and I will never send you a nightmare again."

I shot up. "That's why you've been sending me those nightmares! You want me to join the Titans!" I said angrily.

"That is correct." He snapped his fingers, and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky. I automatically flinched, but the bolt stopped just inches away from my face.

"I control this dream, and I control this bolt of lightning. If you join us, then you'll never see another lightning bolt in your dreams. But if you refuse to join, well…" He clenched his fist, and the bolt jerked a centimeter closer. "So, what'll it be?"

I looked at the lightning bolt, and then at Morpheus, and back to the lightning bolt. I took a deep breath. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but…"

"Well?" Morpheus asked, a tinge of eagerness leaking into his voice.

I took a deep breath. "I'm not joining the Titans. No way."

"So be it." Morpheus flicked his wrist, and the bolt smashed into my face, exploding in a burst of light.

And then there was pain. Blinding pain. Unbelievable pain that shorted my mind out and ceased my thoughts.

After what felt like decades, but was probably only seconds, the pain diminished and I was able to think rationally again. Lying in a smoking crater, with Morpheus standing above me, I noticed that half of my face seemed to be missing. Lovely.

"As this is only in your mind, you can't die," Morpheus said, crouching down next to me. "But I can break your mind. I can make you a subservient slave to Kronos." He reached out, a crooked index finger coming towards my mangled forehead. Time seemed to slow down as I watched his finger travel. This was it. Jackson Crossley, as the world knew me, was going to cease to exist in a train car somewhere in the American Southwest, and be replaced by a mindless slave. I wouldn't even have the dignity of dying.

Then a surge of anger overtook me. This was my own head. My own fucking mind, and this asshole was walking all over it like it was his, because he was the god of dreams. Well, two could play at that game. This was my mind, and my rules.

My pocketknife appeared in my hands as the spear, fully extended. I stabbed upward, driving the point into Morpheus. I was rewarded with an _oof_, and he fell back as I stood up. My face began to reform, flesh forming where it had been missing or burnt before. As Morpheus started to get up, ichor leaking from a wound in his side, my other eyeball popped back into existence, and I could see fully again.

"You want to go, Morpheus?" I asked shakily. "Because this is my fucking head, and my fucking rules. And my rules say that there are no thunderstorms."

As if by magic, the clouds above me vanished, giving way to a brilliant blue sky. Sunlight bathed my face.

Morpheus looked up at the cloudless sky as if it was mild inconvenience. "Ah, but I am the god of dreams. Now, let's see…" He raised his arms to the sky. "I command that there be thunderstorms in this dream!"

The sky immediately turned gray and gloomy again, and rain burst forth, punctuated by a blast of thunder.

"You see? We can both play this game," Morpheus said with a cackle.

"You're right. We're taking the fight away from this stupid field." I raised my spear above my head. "Let's go somewhere where we can have fun."

I slammed my spear into the ground, and the ground exploded around us, cascading and twisting, and the entire environment shifted until we there was no ground beneath us for a long way, and we were both falling through the air.

"How about now, Morpheus?!" I yelled over the rushing air. "We're freefalling from thirty thousand feet! Take that!"

"This is small potatoes!" he shot back. He waved his hand, and a parachute shot out, slowing his descent. "Easy!" he proclaimed.

"Yeah?!" I clenched my fist, and a giant pair of scissors appeared in midair, cutting Morpheus' parachute in half. "Beat that!"

For two seconds, Morpheus actually had an expression besides smug superiority on his face. It was surprise.

"I'll give you points for creativity, Crossley," he said, recovering quickly. "But as long as you can destroy my parachutes, I can conjure up new ones. Easy." To prove his point, another one appeared in his hands.

"Oh, yeah?" I shot forward, crashing into the god of dreams and sending us flying sideways as we continued our fall. "Can you survive this?!" I closed my eyes, accelerating us towards the ground as our speed shot up hundreds of miles per hour. Hitting the ground at this speed would be deadly. But I didn't plan on that.

Morpheus seemed content to plummet through the air and watch me with amusement. "You really believe that you can defeat me?" he asked.

"Shut up," I responded.

"The last person who tried to fight me inside a dream was… oh gosh, a while ago. All I remember is that fight didn't turn out too well. That guy ended up going insane and becoming a psychotic killer. Nasty fellow."

I tried to tune out Morpheus and concentrate on the ground rushing up to meet us. Five seconds to impact. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two seconds. One second….

_THWOMPFH_.

We slammed into the ground with the force of a meteorite, sending out a giant explosion of dirt. When the dust settled, I was sitting in the middle of a giant crater, and Morpheus was nowhere to be seen. Then his voice echoed through the air again.

"It's been so long since I had a real challenge! Of course, every time you do something like this, it puts a _massive_ strain on your mind in real life, and a mortal can only take so much before breaking..."

"SHUT UP!" I roared, and I slammed my spear into the ground. The ground exploded and morphed, undulating and twisting, until it settled into the form of a city street.

I drew my spear, turning in a circle. The street was empty, and Morpheus was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, the sky darkened, and I felt a drop of rain. Then two, and then three, and then it was a downpour. Thunder rumbled distantly. He was somewhere nearby.

"Come out and fight, you coward!" I screamed, squinting into the rain. For a few seconds, there was no response. Then I heard a whistling noise from the left, and the side of my torso exploded in pain.

When I could open my eyes again, the first thing I saw was a giant axe sticking out of my side. The second thing that I saw was Morpheus standing over me.

"You don't seem to understand this very well," he said, pulling another axe out of thin air. "You cannot beat me. I am a god."

Under him, the ground began to shift and change. My eyes widened, but Morpheus paid no attention.

"I can easily outlast you. Sooner or later, your mind will break. I can wait as long as I want for that moment."

The ground under Morpheus was definitely changing now, but he still wasn't noticing it. As I watched, the ground took the shape of a train track. Train tracks? I glanced to the left. There was a light far in the distance, slowly getting bigger. A train. And Morpheus was right in its path.

"Wait!" I yelled.

He stopped, his axe poised over his head. "What?"

"Look, I'll-I'll-" I snuck a glance to the right. The train was getting closer. I had to stall for time. "-I'll go to the- I'll go to the- I'll join your side, okay?"

The axe vanished from Morpheus' hand. "Really now?"

"Really," I insisted. "I-I give up. Just- just stop. Please. I can't take this anymore."

Morpheus fell for it hook, line, and sinker. "Well, that was unexpected," he said delightedly, setting the axe down. "I'll need you to swear an oath of loy-"

He never finished his sentence. The train interrupted him, smashing into the god with a **_CRUNCH_** at at least a hundred miles an hour, and sending him flying high into the air. I stood up, pulling the ax out of my side and watching his body fall back down to the ground.

Morpheus landed with a sickening crunch. His body was almost unrecognizable- the train's impact had left him a bloody pulp. I slowly walked over to Morpheus' damaged body, letting my wounds heal. I came up to him and opened my spear. As I prepared to strike, he opened his eyes and saw me. For a brief moment, what was left of his face showed surprise beyond belief that he, a god, could be defeated by me, a puny demigod. Well, I was about to do it. Suck it, Morpheus.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Head," I growled, raising the spear above my head. Then I struck down.

The spear plunged straight through his heart. It wouldn't kill him, but I hoped it hurt a lot. But then, unexpectedly, the body began to change, crumbling slowly into golden dust. Soon, there was nothing left.

"What the…?" I looked around. "Is this a trick?"

Suddenly, I felt a violent shaking all around me. And then I woke up.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

I woke up, and to my relief, I was still in the train car. I waited in a tense silence, but after a few minutes had gone by without a sociopathic god appearing, I let out a long sigh and slumped against the wall.

"Ha. Beat you, Morpheus," I muttered.

_Congratulations, Mr. Crossley_, came a grudging voice.

I jumped up. Not Morpheus again. "What- where- how-" I spluttered.

_You have defeated me, and I now find myself forced to obey your demand._

"What demand?"

_I solemnly swear on the River Styx that I will never attempt to enter your mind again._

I heard a crack of thunder outside, signaling that the oath was sealed.

"Wait, what?"

_But beware. This promise means that you will no longer have the prophetic dreams of a demigod. Your dreams will remain grounded on the mortal plane. This sword __has two edges._

And then he was silent. I stayed up for another couple of seconds, waiting for more, but nothing came. When I realized that Morpheus was truly gone, I didn't even try to celebrate. I was too exhausted, and I was asleep in minutes.

**A/N: And that's the end of Chapter 13! I'm not sorry at all for the cliffhanger in the last chapter. Hehe. Anyway, I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible- my baseball team's regular season is almost over. I have no idea about how long the playoffs are. But the last day of school for me is just a month away, and you can bet that I'll be writing this summer! So, my deadline for chapter 14 is June 27.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, OWN THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS SERIES, OR ANY PART OF IT, OR ANYTHING WRITTEN BY RICK RIORDAN.**

**A/N: I'm sorry for the late update! Enjoy the chapter! Don't forget to review.**

I was jerked awake by a rough voice.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing in here?"

An angry security guard was looking into the train and shining a flashlight in my eyes.

I started to get up, squinting against the blaze of light. 'Whoa, I can explain-"

"Get outta there! How long have you been in there?" he yelled, lowering the flashlight.

"What?" I groped on the floor for my backpack and pulled it over my shoulder, and started climbing out of the train car. "Look, I was just-" How do you explain to someone that you're trying to rescue the Goddess of the Hunt?

It didn't matter, because when the security guard got a real look at me, the color drained out of his face, and he forgot whatever he was going to say to me. "What the… You look like you've been to hell and back!"

I took stock of myself. I was dirty, I had a bloody t-shirt tied around my elbow, bruises and scrapes all over me, a ratty backpack in my hand, and probably dark circles under my eyes, looking like I just crawled out of the depths of hell. Yup.

"Something like that," I said, smoothing out my shirt. "You mind telling me where I am?"

He gave me an odd look. "You don't know?"

"All I know is that I started somewhere in the southwest. I'm trying to get to San Francisco."

Unexpectedly, the security guard let out a weak chuckle. "You're a little off your mark."

"What? Where am I?"

He pointed behind me, and I turned. The night skyline of a city was visible in the distance, and I could just make out the unmistakable profile of the Empire State Building, even at night.

"Welcome to New York City," he said.

"New York- No- that isn't possible! The boxcars said Western Pacific on them!" I turned around and looked at the boxcars- only to find that they instead said EASTERN &amp; PACIFIC on them.

Oops.

The guard was looking at me with full incredulity now. "I thought you were disoriented, but now I think you're just stupid." He rested his hand on the Taser at his side again and moved towards me. "Let's bring you down to the police station before you do anything else stupid, okay?"

"Wait!"

He stopped. "Yeah?"

"What- what's the day?"

"The twenty-first."

"The solstice?"

"I don't know, kid. It's past midnight, and you're giving me a headache."

That settled it. Percy, Thalia, Zoe, Grover, and Bianca had to be back by the solstice. Their deadline was in a couple of hours, and I was on the wrong side of the country. There was nothing I could do except go to Olympus and wait for them.

I looked up at the guard. "Look, sorry, but…"

"What are you- now don't get any funny ideas- HEY!"

I elicited that last response by ducking through the guard's arms and dashing past him.

"If you don't stop right now, I will pull my Taser on you!" he barked.

I didn't stop, and heard a faint _bzzt_ from behind me. I dove to the ground just in time, as two barbs of metal crackling with electricity passed over me. I heard the guard swear behind me.

I got up and sprinted around a corner. Okay, think. Think. I needed an escape route- Wow. Of course. I had one literally at my feet.

I clapped the heels of my shoes together, and the black Charger swirled out around me. I jerked the ignition and slammed on the gas, speeding away just as the guard rounded the corner, disbelief on his face as I left him in the dust.

"Thanks again for this present, dad," I muttered, turning onto another street. As I drove towards Manhattan, I contemplated a line from my prophecy that I had forgotten about.

_And face fear, to which he must not succumb._

I thought that I'd solved that problem long ago. Apparently not.

A while later, I arrived at the Empire State Building. Once in the lobby, I pushed my way through to the security desk. Chiron had given me instructions on how to get to Olympus- ask for the six hundredth floor, and if the security guy doesn't get it, just keep asking. Simple enough. I tapped my hand on the counter, and the guard looked up at me.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Uh, six hundredth floor, please."

He gave me a blank stare. "Come again?"

"Six hundredth floor."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm here for the winter solstice," I added, lowering my voice.

"I just said that I don't know what you're talking about."

"The winter solstice Olympian council?"

The guard blinked at me for several seconds before reaching under his desk and pulling out a booklet. "This event's invitation only. Can you give me your name?"

"Jackson Crossley."

He looked over the booklet. "Mmmmm… Well, I don't see your name on the guest list. Sorry."

"So I can't go in?"

"Nope." He shrugged. "Tough break. You can-" He cut himself off as the desk phone rang. "Excuse me, I have to take this."

He picked up the phone. "Hello?" He paled drastically as the voice on the other end spoke. "Yes, speaking… Yes… Oh… I see… Right away. I'll send him up right now. My apologies." He put down the phone. "Never mind. Somebody high up there just put you on the guest list."

"Who? One of the gods?"

He shrugged. "No idea. All I know is that that was my hotline straight to Mount Olympus."

"Really? Do you know who it was?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Anyway, here's your pass." He handed me a silver keycard. "Go to the elevator and put this in the security slot. There can't be anyone else in the elevator with you. Oh, and whoever called told you to go into the throne room."

"Thanks." I went over to the elevator, found an empty one and stepped inside, and waited for the doors to close before inserting the keycard. The button for the 600th floor appeared. I pushed it, and the elevator jerked upwards. As I traveled up, with eighties pop music playing in the background, I wondered who or what awaited me at the top. Were Percy, Thalia, Grover, Bianca, and Zoe even alive?

The elevator doors opened with a _ding_, pulling me out of my thoughts. I stepped out onto a marble staircase, far above the tip of the Empire State Building. New York was miles below, and Olympus loomed ahead, the giant island in the sky that my destiny was irreversibly entwined with now.

As I walked through the streets of Olympus, everything felt unusually subdued. It felt like the calm before a storm- everyone that I saw seemed to be waiting for something. All of the nervous energy in the air- there was a lot, I could practically feel it- was concentrated around the center of the mountain. The throne room.

I slowly approached the doors to the throne room. There was no guarantee that they wouldn't try to kill me again if I went in there. Strangely, I wasn't scared of that. It probably had something to do the fact that I'd just defeated the god of nightmares in a fight. In fact, that was what was giving me any confidence at all. I had already fought a thousand-ton robot and a sociopathic god of sleep, and I came out fine each time. I had nothing to lose. I took a deep breath, pulled open the doors, and walked in.

Every set of eyes in the throne room turned to look at me. For one brief second, I did something that probably didn't happen too often: surprise the gods, Zeus and Apollo especially so. Percy, Thalia, Grover, Bianca, and Annabeth were in the middle of the throne room, and they looked like they were seeing a ghost. I probably looked like one, too. Artemis was in her throne, so the quest had been successful.

I waved awkwardly. "Uh, hi. Am I late?"

Surprisingly, the first person to recover from their surprise wasn't any of the gods. It was Thalia.

"JACKSON?!" she half-yelled, half asked, running towards me, with Percy, Bianca, and Grover right behind her, and the four of them piled onto me in a giant group hug.

"You're alive!" Percy said, slapping me on the back.

Bianca was almost in tears. "You saved our lives! We all thought you were dead!"

"Wild, man!" Grover marveled.

"How did you survive that?" Thalia asked, her eyes burning into me.

"I got lucky, I guess."

"Lucky? I need your luck, man!" Percy said.

"Wait a minute…" I looked at the group. "Guys, where's Zoe?"

Percy, Thalia, Grover, and Zoe all looked at each other uneasily. In the background, I saw Artemis stiffen on her throne.

"Uh, Jackson… you see… Zoe didn't make it," Grover muttered.

I blinked. "Oh. Oh, gods." I looked down. We fell into silence.

Zoe Nightshade was dead.

Dead.

"…How?" I asked, after a long pause.

"Do you remember the line from the prophecy that said someone would die at a parent's hand?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah?"

"Zoe's father is Atlas," she finished bluntly.

"Oh."

Zeus cleared his throat. "I would like to continue with proceedings, now that we have established that the son of Vehiclos is, in fact, alive."

"Very well," Athena said. "Let us resume the discussion…"

"Wait!"

All of the gods looked at me again.

"What is it, boy?" Zeus asked.

"Look, um, I don't know if you guys know this, but is Morpheus on your side?"

Zeus took on a look slight confusion. "Yes… what is your point?"

"I, uh, found out that Morpheus isn't actually on your side. He's on the Titans' side."

"What?!" Zeus barked, gripping the armrests of his throne. "Morpheus- a traitor?"

"He tried to force me to join the Titans," I added quickly.

"Is this true?" Athena asked.

"Look- yeah, I swear on the River Styx that Morpheus tried to make me join the Titans."

Thunder boomed.

"He speaks the truth. Morpheus has defected to the Titans," Athena announced, after a stunned pause.

"Even more reason for us to be proactive in preparation for the war," Artemis pointed out.

Zeus nodded, still looking very angered. "Indeed. This is a troubling development. Perhaps we should keep a closer eye on the other minor gods. All in agreement on this?"

Most of the hands around the throne room went up.

Zeus nodded. "Good. Moving onto other matters… Athena, if you would…"

As the gods started to debate what to do with a sea monster that Percy had found (I was really out of the loop on this), my eyes drifted around the throne room. The setup reminded me of the last time I had been there, except that now they didn't want to kill me anymore. Most of the gods were paying attention to the conversation, but Aphrodite noticed me looking and winked. Artemis was paying rapt attention to the discussion, but next to her, Apollo was looking intensely at me. I caught his eye, and for thirty glacial seconds, his expression showed nothing as he scrutinized me. It was all I could do not to drop to my knees and beg for mercy as we maintained eye contact. As it stretched into a minute, Apollo's expression lapsed into satisfaction, and finally, he gave me a single nod, as if to say, _good job_.

That was all I needed. I turned away and focused on the discussion, watching as they voted to not kill the sea monster. Then Thalia got inducted into the Hunters (I didn't see that coming). Afterward, a few closing statements were heard, and then, the council was called to an end.

The party afterwards was awesome. Thousands of nymphs, spirits, and deities filled the streets, eating, drinking, and dancing. I sat at a table with Percy, Thalia, Bianca, Annabeth, and Percy, and we took turns telling stories about the quest, as Percy filled me in on what happened after the junkyard- skeletons on the Hoover Dam, an old sea god on the harbor, a battle with Atlas on the top of Mount Othrys, the rescue of Artemis, and the death of Zoe. I told them about finding my way out of the robot, hopping the train, fighting with Morpheus, and ending up in New York because I misread the train cars.

The party was still going strong an hour or so later when Percy got up from the table and went over to Annabeth.

"Um, Annabeth, I think I owe you a dance," he said, blushing.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You do? From when?"

"Um, at Westover Hall, when we tried to dance, and then you sort of got kidnapped. I mean, we did dance, but the song wasn't finished, and we kept stepping on each other's feet and-"

Annabeth laughed. "Gods, Percy, you don't need an excuse to dance with me. Come on!" She got up and took Percy's hand, leading him to the dance floor.

After a pause, Grover jumped up. "I'm going to go get some coffee," he announced. "Anyone want some?"

"I'm good," Thalia said. Bianca and I shook our heads.

"Okay, then." Grover trotted off towards the coffee bar.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Grover is _such_ a-" She faltered. Her eyes fixated on someone behind me.

"Uh, Lady Artemis," she said, standing up quickly. Bianca stood up as well.

"Thalia, you are one of my hunters now," came a voice from behind me. "You do not have to address me with formalities now. Artemis will suffice, or just My Lady."

I turned around and saw Artemis behind me. "Uh, greetings, Lady Artemis," I said, hastily bowing.

She looked me up and down. "Greetings, Jackson Crossley. You are the one who I wanted to see. You put your life on the line for two of my hunters, despite the fact that you barely knew her."

"It wasn't that- you know what? It was hard, but I made a promise to Bianca's little brother that I would protect her, and Thalia here-"

Thalia raised an eyebrow.

"-Thalia here told me a few things about keeping promises and taking things more seriously, and she was right. I wasn't really thinking when I went up against that robot- I'm not saying that it was impulsive- I'm not saying that I wouldn't do it again- I just- Uh-"

Artemis held up a hand. "Say no more. I commend you for your actions."

I stopped myself. "Thank you, Lady Artemis."

"That is all. Thalia, Bianca, if you would come with me…" She motioned for them to follow her. The three of them left, leaving me alone at the table.

I picked at my half-eaten slice of Olympian cake for a couple of minutes, until a rumbling voice spoke from behind me.

"Your information on Morpheus was correct."

I turned around and came face-to-face with Lord Zeus.

I got up and bowed. "Uh, thanks?"

I mentally smacked myself for my stupid response, but Zeus didn't notice, as he continued. "We will have to keep a closer eye on the other minor gods… Janus, perhaps, and Hecate… and Vehiclos," he finished.

"My dad?"

"Yes," Zeus said quickly. "Your father is, shall we say, a person of interest right now."

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to make it sound as polite as possible.

"Your father is still a criminal. He needs to stand trial before he can clear his name."

What was Zeus trying to do? Was he deliberately being a jerk? I knew that the gods wouldn't give Vehiclos a fair trial.

"It would help us greatly if you were to gather information on Vehiclos… and see where his allegiances lie, and tell us your findings. It would be of great assistance in the war effort."

Well, there it was.

"Are you asking me to spy on my father?"

Zeus snapped his finger, and a bag the size of my head appeared in his hand. He tipped it to me, and I caught sight of a pile of gold coins inside. "We are prepared to reward you handsomely."

I opened my mouth to protest, but as Zeus stared me down, I realized that maybe it wasn't a good idea to be talking back to the king of the gods, who had already tried to kill me. Too late.

"My dad's innocent," I muttered, turning away.

Lightning sparked around Zeus. "What was that, godling?"

"I said," I repeated, raising my voice, "My father is innocent! I'm not going to spy on him!"

"Watch your words, boy. Your father is a fugitive," he said warningly. "I ask you to consider the-"

I interrupted Zeus, which might literally have been the stupidest thing I ever did. "We're in the middle of a _war_, and you want me to do this?! Have you ever considered concentrating on actually winning the war instead of scaring off people on your side? What kind of leader are you?!"

"QUIET!" Zeus snarled. A lightning bolt appeared in his hands.

I shrank back at the sight of the bolt. "Whoa- whoa- uh- please don't kill-"

"LEAVE NOW," he growled, clenching his fist. I felt the air around me increase in pressure.

I scrambled out of my chair and ran. I didn't look back until I got to the elevators, and I slammed on the door open button. It felt like an eternity waiting for the elevator to arrive. I kept looking over my shoulder, expecting Zeus to be bearing down on me, thunderbolts in hand. Finally, the elevator arrived with no sign of Zeus, and I got inside, slamming the button for the ground floor.

Back at the ground floor, I got out of the building fast. Out on the street, I sat down on a bench and watched the sun slowly rise over the New York skyline. I buried my face in my hands. I had fucked up, big-time.

The sound of screeching tires caught my attention, and I looked up to see a taxi pulling up to the curb. The driver turned got out, his face mostly obscured by a "Detroit Motors Corp" hat.

I stiffened. No way. He couldn't be here. Not right under the god's noses.

The taxi driver slid onto the seat next to me and pulled off his hat. "Hello, Jackson," he said.

Vehiclos.

"Hey, dad."

"Got kicked off Olympus, huh?"

"No, I just wanted to get some fresh air- _YES_, I got kicked out. What do you think?" I snapped.

Vehiclos sighed. "What did you do now?"

"I got into an argument with Zeus." At his alarmed look, I hastily added, "Nothing major- he just- I just- He isn't going to kill me, and that's what matters, right?" Before he could reply, I continued, "Look, I want to talk, but is this really the safest place for you to be right now? I mean, Olympus is right there and-"

"I'm fine," Vehiclos said wearily. "They can't see me. I'm more worried about you, Jackson."

"Why?"

"Oh, I don't know… you were hunted by unkillable skeletons… you almost got killed by a giant automaton… Morpheus invaded your mind… and you just talked back to Lord Zeus."

"What's your point?" I asked.

"Look, as hard as it might be for you to believe this, I actually care about you."

"I kind of knew that already."

"No, not the kind of "caring" that some of the other gods pretend to show. I don't want to just give you one gift and never speak to you again."

"Dad, what's the big deal?"

"I- I just-" He was babbling now. "It-I-It's my fault that you're in all this danger, that's the big deal!"

I stared at him. "Is that why you're so worked up? That's the stupidest thing I ever heard."

"No, it isn't. I'm the reason why you almost got killed so many times. If I wasn't your father, then you would be so much happier."

I blinked. Vehiclos sounded desperate. "Dad. That's- that's not true."

"Yes, it is," he muttered. "If I just went and turned myself in, then I would save both of us a lot of trouble."

I grabbed his arm. "_Don't._ I know that you're innocent. I'm not letting you go up there. If you turn yourself in, then- then- I'll try to break you out."

He made no movement to shake my grip. "Break me out of Olympus? I'd like to see you try that."

"I'm serious, dad," I said sharply. "They're going to throw you in Tartarus or something. Don't do it. I don't care if you're making trouble." I took a deep breath. "I _am_ trouble. I know how to deal with it."

Vehiclos stared at me for a long minute, before slumping down in defeat. "If you say so."

I let go of his arm. "_Thank you._ Now, do you mind telling me what exactly you're doing here?"

"To tell the truth, I was originally giving her a ride here."

"Giving who a ride?"

My question was answered a few seconds later when the car door opened again, and my mom stepped out, looking none too happy.

_-PTTM PTTM PTTM PTTM-_

The drive back to Massachusetts was extremely tense. Vehiclos had vanished with the taxi after my mom showed up, and now she was driving us home using my Charger, with the pedal practically glued to the floor. And she wasn't in a good mood, either. I guess not telling your mom that you're about to go on a super death quest to San Francisco will make her mad.

For the first part of the car ride, I listened quietly to her why-didn't-you-tell-me, what-were-you-thinking-you-had-me-so-worried, I-thought-you-were-dead rant. After a few minutes, she lapsed into silence, and it wasn't until we arrived back home that she spoke again.

"Did you have a choice?" she asked, turning the car into the driveway.

"What?"

"Did you have a choice to go on that quest?" she repeated.

"Um… define 'choice.'"

"Never mind," she muttered. "I've heard enough."

"What do you mean?"

She didn't answer as she turned the car off and opened the door. As we were getting back out, she turned back to me. "Jackson."

"Yeah?"

"Turn the car back into the shoes."

"Sure…" I obeyed her request.

"Give the shoes to me."

"What? Why?"

"Just give them to me," she said, extending her hand. "Now."

"Why?"

"Because," she said, taking a deep breath, "I don't trust you with them."

"What?!"

"For one, you're not old enough to drive."

"I'm the son of the driving god!" I protested.

"Try telling that to a cop who pulls you over."

I stared at her, trying to think of another argument. "B-but, Vehiclos gave them to me. They're mine," I offered weakly.

"No. They're mine until I say otherwise," my mom shot back, her eyes glittering with rage. "Give them to me _now_. Or else."

We stood, facing each other. Unwittingly, my hands went to my sneakers, untied them, and took them off. I slammed them into my mom's hands. "There. Happy?"

"Thank you," she said. "This is for your own good."

**A/N: Chapter fourteen! My school just let out for the summer! This is huge, because I'm pretty much at the halfway point for "Pedal to the Metal." Oh, and guess what was on June 29th? The one-year anniversary of Pedal to the Metal!**


	15. Chapter 15: Closure

Chapter Fifteen: Closure

**A/N: Okay. I know I haven't updated this in a year, but I decided that I should give closure to anyone who's still hoping for an update, even though I've been out of the PJO fandom for months. So here's the furthest I got into Chapter Fifteen. And after that, I'll just copy-and-paste the story notes that I had for Pedal To The Metal, and the sequels I had planned. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to finish Pedal To The Metal. This is the best I can do.**

Winter ended. Spring came and went. I fought a few monsters. School let out for the summer. But the action _really_ started on June 14th, the day when I was going back to Camp Half-Blood.

I was in my room, packing up my backpack. I looked into my closet for a second to get a t-shirt, and when I turned around, Luke Castellan was sitting on my bed.

"Hey," he said conversationally. Before I could react, he held up his hand. "I swear on the River Styx that I will not hurt you during this visit," he said solemnly. Thunder boomed, sealing his oath.

I stared at him, looked away for a few seconds, and looked back. He was still there. He looked a lot paler than the last time I'd seen him- he was practically ghostly now. I wasn't too happy to see him, even if he'd sworn to hurt me. "Can I just ask you what the hell you're doing here?" I asked. "And how did you even get inside?"

"I rang the doorbell. Your mom let me in," he replied.

I slowly reached for my spear, which was disguised as my pocketknife in my backpack. "Wow. Look, the next time you decide to drop by, ask me first, okay? I don't like people like you showing up unannounced."

Luke didn't notice my comment. "I can't stay here for very long. I just wanted to see if you thought about my proposition."

"Your proposition…? I don't know what you're talking about."

"From last September. Do you remember?"

I let my pocketknife slip back into my pocket. "Oh, right. Join the Titans. That. Uh… Yeah, I have an answer for you."

"Really?"

"No."

"No? No what?"

"I'm not joining the Titans."

"Really?" He looked at me closely. "Are you _sure?_"

"Yep."

"Can I ask why?"

I stared at him. Did he honestly not realize why? "I can't join your side as long as you're using Morpheus."

"Oh?"

"Come on. You're not fooling me. I know that you used Morpheus to try to force me onto your side. He told me so himself," I snapped, turning to get my backpack.

"WHAT?!"

The pure shock in Luke's tone startled me. I spun around. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Morpheus spent an entire year messing with my mind, and then he tried to TAKE OVER MY MIND TO MAKE ME A SLAVE TO THE TITANS!" I yelled, throwing my backpack on to the ground.

"Jackson, I- I'm sorry- I don't know-"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB!" I roared. "YOU SENT HIM TO BREAK MY MIND!"

"I honestly had no idea-"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" I screeched. "I MIGHT HAVE JOINED YOU GUYS! AND THEN THAT FUCKER TRIED TO ENSLAVE ME!"

"Whoa, easy now," Luke said, holding up his hands. "We're all cool here, right?"

"NO, WE'RE NOT! SHUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH! I AM _NOT_ JOINING THE TITANS! NO! N-O SPELLS NO! NO MEANS NO!"

Luke got off my bed. "Jackson, I'm telling the truth! I swear!"

I laughed. "Really? All right. Swear on the River Styx, then. Go on."

He hesitated. I saw that as my opening.

"HA! You can't do it!" I barked a laugh and stopped myself abruptly. "Okay. Now fuck off."

"Jackson-" Luke began.

I drew my spear. "Do you think I can skewer you with this at point-blank range?"

Luke's eyes widened, and he drew his sword. I tensed, preparing to defend myself, but instead he slashed through the air, opening a black portal. He jumped into it and disappeared.

The room was empty. I let go of my spear and slumped down onto my bed, the adrenaline rush leaving me.

"Damn it," I muttered. "Damn, damn, damn."

I got up, returned my spear to its pocket form, and picked up my backpack, going downstairs. My mom was in the living room. She looked up as I passed through.

"I heard a lot of yelling up there," she said with concern. "Is everything okay with you and your friend?"

"He's not my friend," I said shortly. "If he ever shows up again, don't let him in, and please get as far away from him as possible."

"Who is he, then?"

"An enemy."

"An enemy?" She sat forward. "Jackson, is everything okay?"

**Now these are story notes that I used to outline future chapters that were never written. It picks up at the start of The Battle Of The Labyrinth. Just remember, I was 14 when I wrote these notes.**

For the first long part of the summer, Jackson has a carefree time, hanging out with Grant and Kaia, training with his spear, playing Capture the Flag, learning to control the Mist, and doing fun things with the Hermes cabin. Then, the battle of the Labyrinth comes. During the fight, Jackson comes face-to-face with Hector. They engage in a fight with a bit of arguing as well. Jackson doesn't want to kill Hector. Hector tells Jackson that he is a son of Prometheus, the god of foresight. He also mentions that there are tens of other demi-Titans scattered through the country. Hector tells Jackson that he foresaw that Jackson would leave Camp Half-Blood. Jackson freezes, and Hector then sees the opening and goes for him. Jackson blocks the strike and prepares to defend himself when, suddenly, an arrow slices into the side of Hector's head. He's dead as he hits the ground. Jackson looks over and sees Lee Fletcher reloading his bow. Jackson repays the favor by killing a giant that was about to kill Lee. Jackson sees Danielle's body after the battle. He starts to have brutal flashbacks and nightmares. The nightmares cause him to spend sleepless nights slowly becoming angrier at the Olympians. Finally, he decides he's had enough. Once the summer is over, he immediately contacts Vehiclos, and then Luke. He tells Vehiclos to get to his house as soon as possible. Next, he contacts Luke and is shocked when he learns that Kronos has risen and Luke is his host body. Shaken but not undeterred, he tells Kronos that he can't stand by the Olympians any longer. Kronos tells him that they plan to invade Manhattan next summer. He invites him and his father to negotiations in San Francisco. Jackson asks for time to consider, which Kronos grants. Vehiclos arrives in Boston soon after, and they decide together that Jackson will live in Boston during the school year, but during the weekends, Vehiclos will teleport him to Vehiclos' palace in Detroit. There, they will train. They contact Kronos again after a day and say that they are open to negotiations. Kronos retracts his invitation to San Francisco, saying that they can negotiate from opposite sides of the country. He says that the Titans will contact them. Over the course of the winter, Jackson gets his learner's permit for driving, and he trains long and hard in Detroit during the weekends. Grant and Kaia come over several times during fall, winter, and spring, but Jackson hides his changing allegiance. Finally, after a long winter without word from the Titans, they open negotiations in the early summer. Jackson and his father travel to San Francisco and look at the Titans' army. While there, Jackson sees Perry and talks with him. Perry mentions that Hector and Addie were in a relationship, until they died in the attack on Camp Half-Blood. He also mentions that they have a spy- Silena Beaureguard. Luke invites Jackson onto the _Princess Andromeda_, and they set sail. Halfway into the voyage, Jackson realizes that they are going to invade Camp Half-Blood. Percy and Beckendorf get on the _Princess Andromeda_, and Jackson sees an escape route. He pretends to be a prisoner, and Percy and Beckendorf free him. He helps them escape, saving Beckendorf, with a little help from Vehiclos. Back at Camp Half-Blood, at the council, Jackson settles the argument between Clarisse and Lee, and then tells them that Silena is a spy. She manages to buy some time buy saying she thought that she was doing the right thing, and then she reveals Jackson as a Titan sympathizer. Jackson makes a run for it and escapes. He goes back to his home, where his mother instantly knows that something is wrong, and she makes him tell her everything that he hasn't told her- the Vehiclos-Olympian rivalry, the Titan war, nearly getting killed, the fact that he's switching sides- and she acts like her worst fears are coming true, and asks him if he's in too deep, and he says yes. Before they can get any further, Vehiclos shows up, transporting Jackson to San Francisco, where Kronos is planning to transport a large army to Manhattan. But in San Francisco, Kronos shows them a security recording that shows Jackson helping Percy and Beckendorf. Kronos attempts to kill Jackson, but Vehiclos prevents him from doing it. Kronos decides to deal with Jackson and Vehiclos after the battle of Manhattan and leaves them under extreme guard. While imprisoned, Jackson hears rumors that an army is massing in the Bay Area. When Krios, their guard, leaves to go fight when an invasion occurs, Jackson and Vehiclos start trying to escape. They break free and escape the confines of Mount Othrys, running into a few purple-shirted demigods along the way. They decide to go to Manhattan. Along the way, they meet up with Chiron and his centaurs, who are initially wary, but let them join the reinforcements. They come to the rescue of the demigods just in time, as they were about to be overrun. Chiron's centaurs attack from the south and the east, and Jackson and Vehiclos attack from the west by taking control of every car in Manhattan and making them attack the monsters, pushing the enemy back towards the north of Manhattan. Everyone is astonished by Jackson's return, especially Grant and Kaia. Later, on the final day of fighting, the drakon appears, but Clarisse and the rest of the Ares cabin are on the other side of the battlefield. Then Bianca, Nico, and Hades show up with an army, pushing back against Kronos (and saving Silena). Grant turns at the wrong second and ends up badly injured. Minutes later, Jackson is badly injured by Kronos as Kronos prepares for his assault on Mount Olympus. Later, after victory, he is healed and returns to Camp Half-Blood with Kaia and Grant. Vehiclos is exonerated and awarded a seat on the Olympian council on the Winter Solstice. Jackson gets a hearty welcome back to Camp Half-Blood, where he idles around for a few days, unsure of what to do now. At the end of the story, he helps a demigod get across the border. Jackson introduces himself, saying, "My name is Jackson. Jackson Crossley."

**Following this are two deleted scenes from Pedal To The Metal. I still like the fruit one.**

Perry closed up the canteen and put it away. "Nectar. It's the drink of the gods. Demigods can have some, but they can't have too much, or they'll burn up."

I took another sip. It tasted like my mom's best hot chocolate, the one that she would make by the gallon on frozen winter nights and it was rich and creamy and chocolate-y and warm and delicious. It tasted like home. I drained the glass. It filled me with energy, and I felt refreshed and recharged. I handed the glass back to Perry. "That felt great. So how come you're not one of the healers in the Apollo cabin?" I asked.

Later, at breakfast, I was sitting between Grant and Kaia, enjoying some French toast and a bowl of fruit salad. "Fruit salad is one of mankind's greatest inventions," I proclaimed around a mouthful of grapes and cantaloupes, to Kaia.

"Oh?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Would you like to hear the story of its origin?"

I scooped up a pineapple cube with my spoon. "Sure."

Kaia began. "Long ago, there was a mortal who bragged the she could make a better salad than Demeter could. Demeter, of course, upon hearing this, became enraged and challenged the mortal to a salad-making contest. The winner would be judged by Dike, the goddess of fair judgment. Demeter made her salad from her finest greens, creating a true work of art. Upon tasting it, Dike declared that it was the best greens that she had tasted. Demeter was sure of her victory, and laughed at what the mortal had made. The mortal had brought with her a collection of chopped pomegranates, pineapples, grapes, strawberries, and an unknown green fruit, creating a salad of fruit. But when Dike tasted it the fruit salad, she immediately declared that the winner was the mortal, and that the best ingredient in her salad, the unknown green fruit, was better than all of the greens in Demeter's salad. Demeter was furious, and in her rage, turned the mortal into the green fruit that was in the salad. Dike demanded that Demeter turn the mortal back, but Demeter refused. Dike then released the girl's soul from the fruit and into the underworld. In her memory, Dike named the green fruit after the mortal. The mortal's name was Cantaloupe."

I choked on, coincidentally, a piece of cantaloupe. "_What?!_"

Kaia smirked. "Did you actually believe that?"

"Wait- THAT WAS MADE UP?!"

**Next, these are the notes for the sequel that I had planned, titled "Shifting Gears," which took place during the Heroes of Olympus series, spanning all five books. Again, note that I was 14 when I wrote this.**

The next part of the story is "Shifting Gears" (SG), in which the story returns to Jackson's point of view, and picks up in December. A monster attacks Jackson, and his mom saves him, killing the monster. She tells him that Vehiclos helped her. On December 14, Percy Jackson goes missing, and Jackson goes to Camp Half-Blood to assist on the search for Percy in Massachusetts. He asks one airplane flying out of Boston to be on the lookout for a demigod, before being run off the airport by police. Months later, when the Roman camp is known about, a Boeing 747 tells him that it heard from another plane that heard it from another plane that heard it from a truck that it heard from a car that heard from another car that heard from another car that it saw Percy Jackson flying off a hill in San Francisco. He tells his mom that he's going to leave for San Francisco. Jackson leaves camp and flies to San Francisco, where he starts looking for Percy. He notices that there is a strange feeling in himself, like this place is exactly where he is supposed to be. He feels mysteriously drawn to a spot in Sonoma Valley, the Wolf House. He walks into the ruins and sees Lupa there, in her wolf form. She tells him that he is a Roman demigod. Jackson thinks that she is mistaken that he is Roman, but doesn't question it because he thinks that she could kill her, and he might find Percy. Jackson passes training and leaves for Camp Jupiter, trying to find Percy there. At Camp Jupiter, Reyna meets him, and seems to recognize him. While creating a legion profile for him, thinking that he's a son of Vehiclos, she finds out that his mother's name is Marlene, and she makes the connection that his uncle is Michael Varus, who he looks like. Jackson calls his mom and demands that she tell him the whole story. She does, telling him that she is a demigod. She is Michael Varus' sister. But after Michael died in the massacre of the nineteen eighties, she left the legion because she couldn't bear the thought of being in such a place anymore. Over the years, she survived many monster attacks, until Vehiclos came along. After a birth control mishap, Marlene became pregnant and reacted badly to finding out who Vehiclos was. But then Vehiclos put up the protections, and she was suddenly safe. She didn't want Jackson to have to deal with being a demigod like she did. Jackson reacts angrily, asking her if she's got anything else that she's hiding. He hangs up on her. After that, he joins the Fourth Cohort, and for the couple of days, he is fine. He doesn't see Percy, but then Octavian finds out that he is Michael Varus' nephew. He blackmails Jackson into helping him. Jackson fights in the battle of New Rome, is recognized by Percy Jackson, and then he's thrust onto the attack force to Camp Half-Blood. After Reyna leaves New York to get the Athena Parthenos, Octavian starts preparing for an invasion. Jackson is going back and forth over whether or not to fight with the Greeks or Romans. In the end, he decides to fight with the Greeks. While on a scout patrol with one other person, he knocks out the other kid and makes a break for it, telling the kid that he's Greek and Roman, but he can't stay in Rome because of Octavian. After the events of the Blood of Olympus finish out, since Octavian is dead, nobody is really mad anymore about Jackson picking a side. The book ends with Jackson back at Camp Half-Blood and Grant starting to tell Jackson about his past, which leads into the third book.

**One passage that I wrote for Shifting Gears, because it struck me. In which Jackson and Reyna talk about Michael Varus:**

Reyna stopped at one of the pictures on the wall.

"This is why some people are looking at you strangely," she said, pointing to the picture.

I looked at the picture. It was someone who did look sort of like me, except he had sharper features, black hair (my hair was brown), a pointier chin, a sly glint in his eye, and sunken blue eyes, not brown like mine. The nameplate read, MICHAEL VARUS.

"What's the big deal with this guy?" I asked.

Reyna's face darkened. "He represents one of the most infamous chapters in the history of this legion."

"Oh."

**After this are the notes for the third book, which would center around Jackson's demigod friend, Grant. I remember being quite proud of this plot.**

"On The Run" (OTR) is the third part of the story arc. It is a background story on Grant. It starts with Jackson and Grant talking in Camp Half-Blood, and Jackson asks about how Grant got into Camp Half-Blood. Grant responds by launching into this story: Long ago, Grant was living comfortably with a "Pokemon are evil, dinosaurs didn't exist, bigoted etc" Christian family. Grant starts to discover strange powers that he has, and then his family catches him experimenting with the powers, and in the chaos that follows, Grant accidentally sets the house on fire. Several days later, his family gives up custody of him to a family in Tennessee. Grant, fearing that they're trying to dump him into a hyper-religious cult to "cleanse" him, runs away. Over the course of the next several days, while chased by police, he leaves his hometown of Eagle Falls, Vermont, and first tries to run for the Canadian border, surviving a monster attack. He is caught at the Canadian border, and the authorities figure out who he is, and they try to return him to Eagle Falls. Grant escapes from a police car on the way to Eagle Falls by using his powers to break the lock in the car, and then makes his way to Burlington, Vermont, surviving another monster attack, where he hitches a ride in the back of an 18-wheeler all the way to Boston. He's caught in the truck in Boston by police, and they try to return him after finding out who he is. Grant breaks free again, and runs to South Station, where he sneaks onto a passenger train headed to Chicago. Unbeknownst to him, the Canadian border police planted a tracking device in his backpack, and the social services are tracking him. Grant gets apprehended on the train by an Ohio State trooper, but he knocks him out and jumps off the train. He walks along the rails for a long time, until he meets a satyr who's looking for him, and he learns about the Greek Gods. They end up in Chicago, where Grant and the satyr get lost, and then two people approach and demand their money. After a struggle, the satyr is stabbed, and Grant kills the two muggers using his bare hands. The satyr dies, and Grant plants the satyr's plant in the Chicago botanic gardens and then goes to a soup kitchen, where he meets Hestia, and Grant goes on a mini-quest for her, and she tells him where Camp Half-Blood is in return. But as Grant attempts to leave Chicago, he is found by the police, and he sees them using a laptop, which makes him wonder if they're tracking him. He finds the tracking device and escapes, sneaking onto a train out of Chicago. He falls asleep and wakes up, where to his horror, he finds that the train is headed to Los Angeles, not New York like he thought. He gets off in Albuquerque and attempts to steal some food. He gets caught by the police and they take him to the station, where they figure out who he is, and they call his social worker, who picks up Grant handcuffed with a security guard, and he takes him to the rail station, where they prepare to board a train. Grant manages to break free at the last minute, but they give chase, and Grant cuts through his handcuffs, and begs a freight engineer to give him shelter. He agrees, and he hides Grant while the social workers run past. The engineer reveals to Grant that he is a demigod, a son of Hermes (name: Samuel Ferguson). He lets Grant hitch a ride on his freight train, which is going east to New York. He gives Grant a few things and some directions to Camp Half-Blood, and Grant is soon on Long Island. But then a group of hellhounds approaches, and nearly kills Grant as he manages to kill one before running for his life. He sees the hill and the tree, and runs toward it, yelling for help. Grant makes it across the border. The story ends with a return to present day, and Jackson and Grant talking a bit more, before someone runs into the room, holding a radio. It's broadcasting news of the eruption of Mount Rainier in Seattle, where Kaia was on vacation at the time.

**The end of On The Run was meant to lead right into the beginning of Eruption, which was supposed to be the origin story for Kaia (Jackson's other friend). This was my least developed story in the series. I remember having a few paragraphs of notes, but I deleted them all because I wasn't happy with the story and wanted to start over. What I do remember is that it would be about Kaia surviving the eruption of Mount Rainier despite being in the destruction zone of the lahars (which are volcanic mudslides) because she finds out that she has the power to control water. Her background would be told with a bunch of flashbacks as she tries to get out of the ruined modern-day Seattle. The story would end with Jackson and Grant finding her and rescuing her, with Kaia hiding her water powers. I also remember that her whole family was killed in the story. :/**

**The fifth and final book in the series would have been written Heroes of Olympus-style, with alternating third-person POV's of Jackson, Grant, and Kaia. Here are the notes for the fifth one, which was unnamed. I can't make heads or tails of what I wrote. I was 14.**

There will be an unnamed book about demi-Titans, which is the final book in the PTTM/OTR/SG/Eruption story arc. Kaia, Grant, and Jackson go on a quest to find two demigods that went missing in Alabama after a Satyr tried to look for them and couldn't find them. They go down to Alabama and follow a trail that takes them through Kansas City (there will be a Noodle Incident that happens in Kansas City where the reader does not know what happened, but Jackson, Grant and Kaia agree never to speak of it again), Texas, and finally Phoenix, Arizona. They discover the existence of demi-Titans. During the quest, they find out that since Kronos was defeated for good, the four most senior demi-titans were put into contention for the heir. The Titan Gauntlet rose out of the ground in Mount Othrys (Kaia had a dream about this), and whoever wields it will have the power to rule the Titans. Along the journey, they continuously get help from a mysterious entity. In Phoenix, they then go to the Superstition mountains and find the two demigods- dead and tied up. At that point, three demi-Titans surprise them. A son of Hyperion, a daughter of Phoebe, and a son of Helios are the demi-titans that surprise them. The hostages were a son of Iaeptus and a son of Krios. The son of Hyperion, James Hunter, is the ringleader. He has the Titan Gauntlet, which will grant the last heir standing immortality and rule over the Titan throne. The demi-Titans boast of the numbers of undiscovered demi-Titans through the US. An epic battle between Grant, Kaia, and Jackson and the three demi-Titans occurs.

The four most senior demi-Titans are James, son of Hyperion, Khris, son of Iaeptus, Marcus, son of Krios, and Kaia (yes, the Kaia that has been in the other four books), daughter of Oceanus. Koios and Kronos did not have any children, which is why Kaia gets the last spot. The Titan Gauntlet only gives immortality when all but one of the heirs have been defeated, but it gives extreme power when the other heirs have not been defeated. In the battle, Jackson and Grant kill the daughter of Phoebe and the son of Helios and Kaia manages to get the gauntlet off James, but then the gauntlet coerces Kaia into putting it on, and Kaia puts on the gauntlet, and the gauntlet corrupts her, and she goes on a rampage, almost hurting Grant and Jackson. Grant manages to get it off Kaia. The gauntlet glows with a silver light when an alive heir is nearby. Grant wrestles the gauntlet off of Kaia. Kaia then kills James. But the gauntlet's still glowing. They realize that Kaia is the last heir. But Kaia doesn't want to put it on, because she knows what it'll do to her. Jackson tries to destroy it by putting it on his hand, since he is a demigod. He is nearly killed by this, and Grant has to tear it off Jackson's hand. It looks like Jackson is dying. But then a new person appears- Rhea. The former disgraced queen of the Titans. She reveals that she was the one helping them all along, and says that she just wants her throne back, and there is almost no power behind it anymore. She says that if she gets her throne, she will heal Jackson and follow the word of Kaia, Grant, and Jackson. They agree, and give the gauntlet to Rhea, and she becomes queen of the Titans and saves Jackson. Happy ending, everyone goes home.

**There you are. That's what I had planned for Pedal To The Metal. It's kind of embarrassing to read it now, but I see it as a learning experience. Look at Pedal to the Metal. Now look at Three's a Crowd, Four's an Army. Now look at A Path She Couldn't Follow and Doe Eyes. My writing has improved so much. It's come a long way since Pedal To The Metal. Someday, I'll be writing original fiction. Maybe you'll read one of my books without even realizing it's me, Air Force Muffin.**

**Thank you to everyone who read Pedal To The Metal. It's over. I'm not coming back to it. Thank you, Apollonia-Artemisia, We're All Okay, Olympia Jackson, Robynhood13, and GuardianOfTheUniverse for leaving reviews. Thank you, Apollonia-Artemisia, Finder18, HayabusaDragonForce, Olyympia Jackson, majordenney, polkxe, and the goddess of fangirls, for favoriting this story. Thank you, Apollonia-Artemisia, We're All Okay, Olympia Jackson, HayabusaDragonForce, Finder18, KJtheELMtree, WatermelonCupcakez, akeera13, majordenney, catleopardclaw, polkxe, and the goddess of fangirls, for following this story.**

**Have a wonderful day, and check out my other stories. Thank you. It meant a lot. **


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